On March 29, Texas is holding its 2nd-tier caucuses (County / SD level). These (if results are published) should give us a good idea, for the first time, of Obama's exact margin out of the TX caucuses (still only 41% reporting as of now).
By law, all conventions (this included the precinct conventions) are open to the press.
I received an e-mail from the chairman Texas Democratic Party - apparently because I registered to get access to the precinct caucus results. It says in part:
I do not know which "one campaign" made the suggestion. But even if they go through the formal credentials process, it could make for a pretty ugly scene at a one-day convention with a lot of amateurs involved.
Texas law permits delegates present at 2nd tier convention to cast all votes for their precinct. So if a precinct were entitled to 18 county delegates and 6 showed up at the county convention, each would cast 3 votes. The Democrats apportioned one delegate for every 15 votes in the 2006 gubernatorial election so there are huge numbers of potential delegates (88,000) so there is the potential for stacking the conventions, at least for procedural matters.
However, the state convention delegates are selected by election precinct(s) based on the sign ups on election night, with one delegate for every 180 votes in 2006. There may be some effects due to differential turnout on election night, since precincts will be combined at the county convention.
