George--

I do not live in the city and did not attend the [Democratic nominating convention].

As did not several Jewish people who do live in the city, I have come to find out, because they were attending Sabbath morning religious services. This was a particularly significant service since 10 adult members of the community became Bar and Bat Mitzvah that day.

In a conversation with Joan Fenton last night, she told me that several of those people had endorsed or committed to her (at least four anyway, which would have kept her on the first ballot and possibly led to her election). I have no problem at all personally with whom we elected and enthusiastically support both candidates. However, I have a problem with the election being scheduled on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.

This could be a problem in the future as well. It may seem a small point, but it had large implications, it seems.

Take care,
Phyllis Koch-Sheras (electronic mail, February 26, 2002)

Editor's Note: While there is no doubt that the sequence of elimination from the rounds of balloting had a significant impact on the outcome at the Democratic nominating convention, it is not clear to me - until I get back the actual voting data by precinct - that Joan Fenton would have remained in the contest after the first ballot.

Given the way the precincts were weighted, one would have to know which precincts those four supporters were from and how this would have affected the distribution of convention votes on the first ballot.

This does not take away from Phyllis Koch-Sheras main point about holding Democratic gatherings on Saturdays, which seems to be a difficulty not only for scheduling mass meetings and conventions but also a problem for scheduling the Albemarle/Charlottesville Democratic breakfast as well.

Anyone out there interested in working on some creative solutions?