Opinion: Behind-the-scenes Democratic talks halt caucus reform

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

DENVER -- Prameela Bartholomeusz is no fan of the Democratic Party’s caucus system, a method used in certain states to select the party’s presidential nominee.

A member of the Platform Committee, Bartholomeusz hoped to get strong language in the party’s new platform opposing caucuses. But at a private meeting the night before the committee met in Pittsburgh, she got word that her issue would be shot down.

Bartholomeusz, who lives in Palo Alto, said she attended a meeting with party Chairman Howard Dean and Barack Obama campaign representatives, where various amendments were hashed out outside public view.

Bartholomeusz supported one that called for doing away with the caucus system in favor of....

... traditional primaries. That’s a touchy issue. Many of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s supporters blame the caucuses for her defeat. (Or her showing in the caucuses.)

At the meeting, Bartholomeusz said “party leaders” gave a clear message: “We were told they wanted to resolve amendments because the press was there, and the press would create a story that the party wasn’t unified. And so they would want to address as many amendments as they could so when we’re out on there on the floor, it goes as smoothly as they’d like.’

Asked if that message came from Dean, she declined to say. “I won’t be specific on who said the words,’ she said.

At that same meeting, Bartholomeusz said she spoke about the caucus amendment with Jeffrey Berman, an Obama campaign aide involved in drafting the platform. Berman told her the next day, the amendment would be ruled not germane, she said.

When the 186-member committee met in public session the following day, Aug. 9, that’s what happened. The caucus question was kicked to the party’s rules committee.

The rest of the agenda proceeded with minimal debate or disagreement. The 51-year-old Bartholomeusz said she was disappointed to see no public discussion on the caucus system. The whole matter seemed pre-determined, she said.

“They didn’t want to raise the issue. It was something they wanted to sweep under the carpet for the moment,’ she said.

Caucuses tend to favor the better organized candidate. During the primary season Obama adeptly used them to build an insurmountable lead over Clinton. Critics say the caucuses leave many voters disenfranchised, taking place at select hours of the day when shift workers and others can’t attend.

Bartholomeusz, who supported Clinton, hopes the party comes up with a fairer way to elect its nominees. “Not everyone can vote,’ she said. “You have to be there at a certain time. That leaves people out!’

A Democratic National Committee official said the gathering Bartholomeusz described was “an orientation session to discuss how the meeting was going to proceed’ –- a courtesy for new members.

As a candidate, Obama has promised transparency in government. He’s vowed, for instance, to let C-SPAN cover health care negotiations, for example, to keep the public informed about sensitive business normally conducted behind closed doors.

But the campaign had no comment on Bartholomeusz’s statements.

-- Peter Nicholas