As the afternoon break was coming to an end at Saturday’s Democratic Party gathering, delegates jammed into a narrow corridor at Cobo Center and proceeded toward the convention hall for the main event – the election of officers.
All around there was glad-handing and back-slapping and shouts of “Hello” as delegates from far-flung sections of the state greeted each other. Walking down the hall in front of me was Johnson, the man who was about 60 minutes away from being elected as the new party chair.
All around the candidate were people wearing “Lon Johnson for Chairman” T-shirts or lapel stickers. Yet, Johnson, who was distinctive in a crisp blue suit and tie, walked the full length of that corridor without anyone greeting him or shaking his hand. It appeared that most of the delegates did not recognize him.
They didn’t know who Lon Johnson is, but they were convinced to vote for him by their union or their congressmen.
As I stepped onto an escalator to head down to the convention hall, a man who favored re-election for Mark Brewer stood at the bottom of the stairs wearing a T-shirt that said, “Lon Who?”
Make no mistake: This chairmanship battle was not a personality conflict, this was a political power play.
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