Just for purposes of fair disclosure, I supported RT at the convention and will continue to do so.
Many of Peter's supporters on this list have repeatedly pointed out that Peter's margin increased on each of the five ballots taken, the implication being that the delegates were turning to Peter en masse and away from RT, that this process would have continued leading to inevitable endorsement for Peter, but for the RT delegate walkout. But a more careful analysis tells a somewhat different story. Look at the raw numbers in addition to the percentages. In every ballot after the second ballot, both Peter AND RT lost votes in absolute terms (there was a bump on the second ballot because the 3 other candidates were dropped after the first ballot). RT lost more than Peter on each ballot, giving Peter a greater percentage of the total. I don't think Peter's increasing lead came from any significant number of folks changing their vote. I personally didn't hear of any defections from EITHER side - despite the untiring efforts of the headset crowd and the candidates themselves. I think the increasing lead was the result of people leaving - and Peter's people simply hung around longer, either because his campaign had better discipline or because the Peter supporters tended to be the veterans who have seen a lot of 2 am conventions so were wise enough not to make dinner plans. This goes to my earlier post about the endorsement process. Do we really want to endorse someone because they can better survive a 13 hour convention and hold their delegates in their seats longer than the other guy? I don't. I like the Linda Higgins idea of looking for some sort of electronic instant voting mechanism for next time. That would give us the ability to make rational decisions about whether to change horses to obtain the benefit of an endorsement without requiring us to sit in crappy chairs for half of a precious weekend. I also think we should have endorsed them both and let the voters decide. Barry Clegg Nicollet Island REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
