Ben against the blank slate

Virginia Democrats had such fun this weekend.
They showed what democracy is by voting for four members of the Democratic National Committee.
There were slots for two women and two men.
There were only two women on the ballot - no need to think about that.
There were six men on the ballot - and things were different from the past.
Ben Tribbett tells the tale.
At every other state convention I've ever attended (back to 1996) ballots are counted by putting them into 2 piles- slate and no slate. Every time the slate pile is bigger and the ballots are never even counted, the slate is declared the winner. This time, together with Del. Lionell Spruill we forced the slate to almost exactly 20% (297 of 1480) of the vote. That meant the ballots had to be counted, and if Frank or George came in under 50% then we would force a runoff for the first time. And when the votes were counted our incumbent DNC member Frank only got 55% of Virginia Democrats to re-elect him, and his ticket mate fell short, meaning we had forced the run off! 
The slate crew drew a blank - it took hours to count the first ballot. There was actual democracy at the Democratic convention.
And they weren't prepared for it.
There was no time for a true runoff for the second slot.
The other competitors withdrew for the unity, but is it true unity?
Republicans are happy to see Democrats fighting each other - makes winning a bit easier.
The Tribbett's crew shares the contempt of the establishment that the Tea Party has.
Looking for the day when the establishment on both sides goes home crying, leaving people in charge who want what's best for the country instead of just themselves.