A newcomer to politics, she is excited about Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for president. Come June 7, she’ll find out if she can cast a vote for him as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention.
But, there’s still another step in the process. The Texas Democratic Convention is June 5-7 in Austin, and delegates from Bell County are preparing for the party.
Bell County Democratic Party Chairman Arthur Resa has made it a personal point to be neutral between delegates for Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“We feel strongly that the Obama delegate should be from our county,” Resa said. “From our district, we’ll only be allowed one Obama and three Clinton delegates due to the voter turnout in other counties.”
Bell County is the largest county in the state Senate district and will have 59 delegates, counting Resa, at the state convention.The next largest county is Taylor County, which is entitled to 38 delegates.
Among the delegates who will be national delegates, Resa wants one, if not two, to come from his county.
Resa said someone wishing to be a final delegate to the national convention must campaign at the state convention and contact delegates within Senate District 24, which is made up of 21 counties. In addition, the prospective delegate had to file with the state party by May 21 and put out notices.
Resa said that at least nine delegates from Bell County said they want to go to the national convention., including Maria Catalano, Bonita Childs and Debra Miranda, all of Temple; William “Bill” Rosenberg and Wayne Carpenter, both of Belton; Nancy Mitchell, Edward Topasna and Shannon Moorman, all of Killeen; and Ms. Rose. “If all those folks want to go, it will split our delegation,” Resa said, saying that the people in the running would need to avoid splitting the county’s votes and get support from delegates in other counties to get the coveted national spot.
A prospective delegate should contact delegates in the county and try to raise support, which can also happen at the state convention. Convention organizers expect 20,000 people to attend.
Before the convention, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Resa said schedule changes are being made and the best thing for delegates to do is visit the Web sites: http://www.democratsbellctytx.com and http://www.txdemocrats.org.
Ms. Rose first became involved in politics when the Obama campaign came to Texas during the Texas two-step primary. She said it sort of took hold of her while she was viewing all the candidates.
“It falls in line with how I view life,” she said of the Obama campaign.
When she heard about precinct captain training, Ms. Rose was unsure about what that was. She attended the training anyway and became captain of Precinct 303.
She said she found the process of education and training to be an incredible experience. She tracked down precinct chairs and got them to explain to her what she did not know.
Ms. Rose was elected permanent secretary for the precinct convention and when the caucus finished, she thought she was done. But, she learned there was another role for her to play and was elected as a delegate to go to the county convention.
“There’s another layer - state,” she said.
Ms. Rose has been involved in several causes and said she knows what the next step in life is going to be when an issue takes hold of her.
Her daily conversations changed from the mundane to the candidates and the issues, Obama in particular.
“I wanna follow this thing through - I wanna go all the way,” Ms. Rose said.
It’s up to her fellow delegates to decide if she’ll go to the national convention, and she said the decision will be tough because there are other qualified candidates.
“I have a true desire and passion and it is timely in my life,” Ms. Rose said. “I am committed and they can count on me to be their voice.”
She said her husband, Stephen Parr, is very supportive of her endeavors.
“She’s a good speaker,” Parr said, adding that she is very good with people and in mobilizing people to get results.
Sara Irvine, managing broker at Joan Mikeska Reality, is Ms. Rose’s friend and business partner, and has known her for six to seven years.
“Whatever she sets out to do, she does,” Ms. Irvine said. “Whatever she puts her mind to, she will do very well.”
vbongat@temple-telegram.com
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