Are political conventions a waste of time and money?

I spent a lot of time deciding who to vote for in the recent primary election. I finally settled on the candidates that had been endorsed by the DFL. I made that decision in part because they had the endorsement of a lot of thoughtful and dedicated people. But the endorsed candidates lost.

I'll support and vote for the DFL candidates in the general election. But I'm wondering what was the point of the expensive and time consuming process that led to the endorsements at the state convention.

Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba always told me that if I wanted to influence the political process I should get involved with the DFL through the endorsement process. I believed that and I've always attended precinct caucuses. I've often attended county and Senate district conventions. And I was a delegate to the Congressional District convention some years ago.

I also generally make a small donation to the DFL so it can conduct the county convention.

But what for? What is it for if the primary system is simply going to ignore all that time and expense of the conventions and endorsement process? We'd all be better off with a shorter election season; wouldn't we.

I'm not alone in this sentiment. The letter below appeared in the Long Prairie Leader just before the primary election. I share Patricia Seifert's sentiments although I'm happy to report that that the primary showed that it's not always money that determines the winner of an election.

I know there's a general election to focus on but please take a minute to read Patricia's letter. Then answer this question: Should the DFL  dump the convention system for 2020?

Tim

To the Editor:

Regardless of which of the two dominant political parties that you support or align with in Minnesota, your endorsement process is being spit upon by a large number of candidates this year.

Yes, all the time and expense of the endorsement process  means nothing to the candidates who have forced the primaries on us. They don’t think that the people who took the time to become delegates and/or alternates to the various conventions have any idea who would be a great candidate. Most delegates and alternates investigate and question candidates before the various conventions. Maybe some or most of those candidates did not want to answer the questions of the delegates and alternates.

The primary will always favor the candidate who has the most money. Why? Because the more money the more they can pay for advertising on tv, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Messenger, print, ect. And, unfortunately there are many voters who vote for the name they remember, so the more times a candidates name is seen or heard the more likely to get a vote.

There are candidates who rely on having the most money and better name recognition than the endorsed candidate. Most people don’t remember from one year to the next why a particular name sticks in their head when they step into the voting booth. 

Support the endorsement process by supporting the endorsed candidates.

Patricia Seifert

Grey Eagle

Frustrated Delegate