The highlight of my Texas trip was the chance to be a legal observer at one of that state’s precinct conventions (something like a caucus). This meant I was tasked with trying to ensure that everyone follow the loose set of rules for the convention to which I was assigned.
My work was cut out for me. Upon arriving at the precinct convention, it became clear that the temporary precinct chair had no intention of following even the most basic convention rules. For example, although the rules explicitly say that convention sign in cannot begin until the later of 7:15 p.m. or when the last voter votes, the temporary chair, a councilwoman from San Antonio, wanted to begin signing in her Hillary supporters. I explained that she could not, and she immediately began telling the crowd of about 150 that “the lawyer from California” did not want them to begin on time. And thus began the night.
When she attempted to tell me I had no right to be in the convention, I had to pull out legal citations explaining that conventions are public, but only those who have voted can sign in and be counted. This was met with, “the lawyer from California wants to tell us how to do things here in Texas.”
When explaining to convention goers that they would have the chance to elect her permanent chair for the convention, this California lawyer had to pipe up and tell them they could also choose to elect someone else.
When she tried to intimidate me by publicly asking for my name and other identifying information, I said my name to the crowd and handed her my driver’s license. I had nothing to hide.
When she seemed to have had enough, she asked the crowd if they’d make a motion for me to sit down. They did and I sat down–on a step on the stage right next to where she was speaking, so I could correct her if she continued to ignore the rules for conventions.
She didn’t like my impertinence. At one point she tried to turn the crowd against me by telling them I was keeping them from leaving because I was insisting that she check the names of those who signed in against the official list of those who voted. Never mind that this is exactly what the rules require.
The behavior toward me was so bad that two different Obama supporters came up to me and said, “Please don’t take this back as your impression of San Antonio. We’re not all as rude as what you’ve seen here tonight.” Another convention attendee came up and thanked me for sticking around despite the treatment.
I’ve had tense moments as a lawyer before. There have been belligerent opposing counsel, mean partners, and recalcitrant witnesses, but I’ve never had a room full of 100 people getting up and surrounding me because they didn’t like what I had to say.
I guess I’m happy to report that the turn of events didn’t make me nervous. It actually made me really glad to be a lawyer. I got to use humor, common sense, respect, and more knowledge than my opponent to get what I wanted–a fair opportunity to be heard for those people who wanted to support my candidate. I don’t always feel like I get to use those skills in quite the way I did in Texas.
Nevertheless, despite my efforts and those of many others, Obama had a rough time in San Antonio on Tuesday. It was no different in my precinct where the result of our convention awarded him only four of 18 delegates.
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