Subject: Coverage of DWS in Alaska
From: "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
To: "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Jefferson, Deshundra" <[email-masked]>, "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>, "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 May 2016 05:29:48 -0700

Starting chain.
Riled Sanders fans rise up as state Democratic convention begins<https://www.adn.com/article/20160513/riled-sanders-fans-rise-state-democratic-convention-begins>
Alex DeMarban<https://www.adn.com/author/alex-demarban>, Alaska Dispatch News

Internal strife rocked the Alaska Democratic Party on Friday as it headed into its three-day state convention, with some members of the party that heavily favor Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton protesting the convention by planning an alternative event Saturday night.

“Alaska voters are an independent people and they don’t want to be told what to do,” said Ed Cullinane, a member of the state central committee from an Anchorage House district.

Cullinane helped organize the protest to the convention, where Democrats on Saturday will choose delegates to cast votes at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Though Clinton appears poised for victory in the hard-fought race, Sanders supporters say he can still claim a win though it would take a surge of delegates.

The anti-convention event at the Egan Civic and Convention Center comes because Florida congresswoman and Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz plans to give the keynote speech at the convention in Anchorage Saturday, Cullinane said.

Alaskan Democrats gave Sanders 81.6 percent of their support in the March caucus. Many believe Wasserman Schultz has limited debates and unfairly allocated resources to give Clinton a boost, he said.

“A lot of us feel that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has displayed very unethical behavior,” he said.

At the state convention on Friday afternoon at the UAA Student Union, during an opening day filled with discussions on matters such as Medicaid expansion and climate change, supporters of both Sanders and Clinton said it was important for Alaska Democrats to unite as the national convention approaches.

“We all need to be respectful and find common ground,” said Shauna Thornton, a state delegate and “Bernie fan” who hopes to be selected as a national delegate from Alaska on Saturday.

Thornton, who is running for a state House seat on the Kenai Peninsula, said she’s not angry Wasserman Schultz is speaking.

“She was asked to come over a year ago, so what do you do? So I’ll attend and ask questions about her positions,” Thornton said.

Cullinane also launched a petition at MoveOn.org asking the Alaska party to “un-invite” Wasserman Schultz. It had 64 signatures Friday afternoon.

He said the anti-convention, which has no official name, will feature a teleconferenced appearance from Tim Canova, Schultz’ Democratic primary opponent in Florida. Plans also include a prerecorded presentation by Jane Sanders’ and a dunk tank with political activist Ray Metcalfe in the wet seat. The event will be held in Summit Hall at the Egan, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Wasserman's speech is planned for 8 p.m. Saturday at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. She's also scheduled to attend a reception there at 6 p.m.

People need to put aside the “divisiveness” said Jennifer Smith, a state convention delegate from a Juneau district who supports Clinton because she’s “cool under fire” and well-versed on critical national issues.

“If you want to have an alternative convention then fine, but if you really want to have change in the party structure you should directly address it to (Wasserman Schultz), and not do it through protests,” she said.

Alaska Democratic Convention gets underway in Anchorage<http://www.ktva.com/alaska-democratic-convention-gets-underway-in-anchorage-925/>

By Lauren Maxwell<http://www.ktva.com/authors/lauren-maxwell/>, KTVA Alaska

At the State Democratic Convention in Anchorage, one of the big jobs party leaders have is to elect delegates to attend the national convention in July, when the presidential nominee will be decided.

Back in March, candidate Bernie Sanders won the state’s Democratic caucus in a big way. All 16 of the state’s regular delegates who will go the national convention in Philadelphia are pledged to vote for him. But the state also has four super delegates who can vote for whomever they want.

Casey Steinau is one of the super delegates. Steinau is the chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party, but as a super delegate, she’s undeclared.

”I am the chairman of the party and I believe that it is my job to represent 100 percent of the Alaska Democrats and I take that roll very seriously,” Steinau said. “I don’t think my personal preferences should be influencing anyone.”

But the idea that super delegates can vote for whomever they want doesn’t sit well with many Democrats.

“I think there probably will be a resolution or a platform change or something coming out of this convention which says we don’t necessarily agree with this and we would ask the DNC to reassess it,” Steinau said.

Steinau said the resolution might ask to get rid of super delegates altogether or require them to vote for the person who won the state caucus.

Meanwhile, Ddemocrats who support Hilary Clinton are also attending the convention. Carolyn Lee with the Hilary for Alaska campaign said there are a lot of people who like both candidates.

“We are also getting a lot of Bernie supporters coming up and saying, ‘I’m going to be with Hilary in a couple of weeks but today I’m with Bernie,’” Lee said.

Steinau said she was hopeful Alaska Democrats would support whichever candidate wins the Party’s nomination.

“They both bring so much to the table and at the end of the day when that person is decided I know that we will come together as a united front.”