Bradley in DC
12-29-2007, 10:55 AM
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/NEWS01/712290365/1077/COL02
First, choose delegates
Ohio presidential race is just getting going
BY HOWARD WILKINSON | HWILKINSON@ENQUIRER.COM
Thursday, as Iowa's marathon of frantic campaigning comes to a close with its presidential caucuses, Ohio's presidential primary season will be just coming to life.
In Ohio, both political parties will be busy that day kicking off the process of choosing delegate slates for the presidential contenders on the March 4 primary ballot.
At the same time Iowans are heading to their presidential caucuses, Ohio Democrats - in an infinitely more quiet fashion - will be heading off to caucus sites in the state's 18 congressional districts to choose delegate slates for each presidential contender in the primary.
And, that same day, Republicans throughout the state will be hurriedly circulating petitions that must be filed the next day - petitions to become delegates to the Republican National Convention in September in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
On both sides, the delegates and alternates who will ultimately go to the Democratic convention in Denver and the GOP convention will be a mix of professional politicians, high-ranking party apparatchiks and ordinary voters who will be experiencing presidential politics for the first time.
In both Ohio and Kentucky, the two major political parties have complex processes for delegate selection. Kentucky's process, both on the Republican and Democratic sides, has yet to crank up in earnest, given the fact that Kentucky's primary election doesn't take place until May 20.
But, in Ohio, supporters of all the presidential contenders - Republican and Democrat - have been busy laying the groundwork for delegate selection.
"It's a pretty convoluted system,'' said Lori Viars, a Warren County Republican who has been helping the Mike Huckabee campaign recruit potential delegates. "We've got it figured out, but it doesn't leave much time to do what needs to be done."
Ohio Democrats, too, sometimes have a hard time understanding their delegate system - one that includes equal numbers of women and men and affirmative-action goals.
"The system is complicated, no doubt," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. "But, in the end, it works. It produces a delegation for the convention that reflects the diversity in the party."
Chet Sweet of New Richmond is a political novice who was inspired by one candidate to become part of the process.
He is a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church in New Richmond. He and his wife, Julia, had never been involved in politics before; they'd never given a dime to any campaign.
But Sweet said he was inspired by seeing Huckabee in a televised debate.
"He was different from any politician I had ever seen," Sweet said. "We just got excited about his candidacy. So we decided we wanted to help."
The Sweets showed up at a Huckabee rally last month at Mars Hill Academy in Mason, where Viars recruited both to be on the Huckabee at-large delegate slate.
"I've watched campaigns from the outside all my life, but it is fascinating now to see it from the inside," Sweet said.
First, choose delegates
Ohio presidential race is just getting going
BY HOWARD WILKINSON | HWILKINSON@ENQUIRER.COM
Thursday, as Iowa's marathon of frantic campaigning comes to a close with its presidential caucuses, Ohio's presidential primary season will be just coming to life.
In Ohio, both political parties will be busy that day kicking off the process of choosing delegate slates for the presidential contenders on the March 4 primary ballot.
At the same time Iowans are heading to their presidential caucuses, Ohio Democrats - in an infinitely more quiet fashion - will be heading off to caucus sites in the state's 18 congressional districts to choose delegate slates for each presidential contender in the primary.
And, that same day, Republicans throughout the state will be hurriedly circulating petitions that must be filed the next day - petitions to become delegates to the Republican National Convention in September in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
On both sides, the delegates and alternates who will ultimately go to the Democratic convention in Denver and the GOP convention will be a mix of professional politicians, high-ranking party apparatchiks and ordinary voters who will be experiencing presidential politics for the first time.
In both Ohio and Kentucky, the two major political parties have complex processes for delegate selection. Kentucky's process, both on the Republican and Democratic sides, has yet to crank up in earnest, given the fact that Kentucky's primary election doesn't take place until May 20.
But, in Ohio, supporters of all the presidential contenders - Republican and Democrat - have been busy laying the groundwork for delegate selection.
"It's a pretty convoluted system,'' said Lori Viars, a Warren County Republican who has been helping the Mike Huckabee campaign recruit potential delegates. "We've got it figured out, but it doesn't leave much time to do what needs to be done."
Ohio Democrats, too, sometimes have a hard time understanding their delegate system - one that includes equal numbers of women and men and affirmative-action goals.
"The system is complicated, no doubt," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. "But, in the end, it works. It produces a delegation for the convention that reflects the diversity in the party."
Chet Sweet of New Richmond is a political novice who was inspired by one candidate to become part of the process.
He is a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church in New Richmond. He and his wife, Julia, had never been involved in politics before; they'd never given a dime to any campaign.
But Sweet said he was inspired by seeing Huckabee in a televised debate.
"He was different from any politician I had ever seen," Sweet said. "We just got excited about his candidacy. So we decided we wanted to help."
The Sweets showed up at a Huckabee rally last month at Mars Hill Academy in Mason, where Viars recruited both to be on the Huckabee at-large delegate slate.
"I've watched campaigns from the outside all my life, but it is fascinating now to see it from the inside," Sweet said.