Our Voices Our Votes

Well, all I can say is that I should have gotten more rest before I came! I chose the above title because this morning at the plenary we used our voices and our votes. We met from 9:00 to 12:10 without a break, then after  a 15 min break we met for a candidate forum from 12:35-1:40.  I took lots of notes and will do my best to summarize.

MacNamara v. Macnab

The Deidre and Elizabeth buttons are increasing in visibility and people are standing around in little groups discussing tomorrow's vote for President.  I notice that within the IL delegation buttons for both candidates are being worn. Last night and this morning everyone had the opportunity to write down questions and put them in a box.  The forum itself was moderated by the President of the Dallas League. (She did a great job! She had clear expectations and kept the candidates on time) The structure of the forum was that the same question was given to each candidate and they had one minute to respond. At the end they each were given one minute for a closing statement.  MacNamara won the coin toss and elected to make the final statement.

They were asked about their vision for the League, the priorities of their vision, how they would implement their priorities...the list goes on.  In all they were asked 17 questions.  I've chosen two to tell you about.  When asked how their experience would prepare them for the Presidency Macnab responded first recounting her experience in business and serving on the school board of a very large district.  But her emphasis was on her leadership as President of the FL League in which membership and funding have increased.  In terms of going from President of a state League directly to President of the national League she gave the example of U.S. Governors becoming President.  MacNamara said that she too worked her way up through the League and was president of a very strong state League. She made the distinction that she served on the US board before becoming president of the board. She feels that this experience has been invaluable in that it gave her an understanding of national isses before taking on the presidency.  They were also asked to list what the three most important issues are for the League.  Macnab listed: protecting the right to vote, fair redistricting, and campaign finance reform.  MacNamara listed: voting rights, money in politics, and environmental issues.

Tomorrow morning there will be a meet and greet from 7:30- 8:45.  We will then vote in the early afternoon.  The discussion before the vote should be fascinating!  I have no idea how much of the vote Macnab will get. I doubt it will get as far as needing to use our red and green cards, but don't quote me on that!

We gathered this morning in a bit of a scramble before the session started.

MacNamara checked her notes one last time before calling the session to order.