Local delegates eager to take part in national conventions

By Joe Tash

“For a political junkie, this is the culmination of a lifetime. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Ascher, a retired attorney, who will be serving as a delegate to the national convention for the first time.

Ascher, whose first taste of politics came as a teen-ager when he volunteered with the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, looks forward to seeing history being made in Denver. “This is going to be the most exciting convention in this century.”

In all, 37 San Diego County residents will serve as delegates at the Democratic and Republican conventions, including seven from the 50th congressional district now represented by Republican Brian Bilbray. The district includes Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, and Carmel Valley, and extends north to Carlsbad, San Marcos and Escondido. Democratic delegates were elected in caucuses, while the Republican delegates were named by the presidential campaigns.

Six residents of the 50th district (five delegates and one alternate) will travel to Denver as delegates – along with one alternate – to the Democratic convention, which runs Aug. 25-28. The party is expected to nominate either a woman, Hillary Clinton, or a black man, Barack Obama, although Obama appears to be closing in on victory. Either selection would mark a first for American presidential politics.
The Democratic delegates are Ascher, Francine Busby, Thor Emblem, Carla Mays and Dave Carlson, with Tracy Emblem as the alternate.
On the Republican side, three 50th district residents will serve as delegates at the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Sept. 1-4. Those delegates are Gerry Parsky, Sam Hardage and John Heubusch.

Hardage, a Rancho Santa Fe resident and owner of a company that builds, owns and operates hotels, has a long history of involvement in Republican Party politics. His wife, Vivian, served as a delegate to the 1996 convention in San Diego, when Bob Dole was the nominee. At the time, Hardage was chairman of the San Diego Republican Party, and was involved with planning and running the convention.
This year, however, will mark the first time that Hardage attends the national convention as a delegate. He’s looking forward to the chance to see old friends, and work together to promote the candidacy of presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

“He is a man of integrity, courage and honor, and I think he will do the right thing,” Hardage said. “I think his perspective on this dangerous world we live in is in consonance with reality much more so than his opponents on the other side.”

Francine Busby of Cardiff, who ran unsuccessfully against Bilbray for the 50th district congressional seat in 2006, said she, too, is excited as she looks forward to her first national convention.

“I think this is going to be a very interesting and historic year,” said Busby. “One way or the other, I will be witnessing history.”
Busby, a Clinton delegate, said she believes the party will unite behind whichever of the candidates ends up as the nominee, and she plans to support the party’s standard-bearer in the fall campaign, whether it turns out to be Obama or Clinton.

She plans to send dispatches back home to San Diego from to the convention by blog or an email newsletter.

“I think there’s going to be an enormous amount of passion and enthusiasm in the crowd,” she said.

Democrats won’t corner the market on energy and enthusiasm, according to John Heubusch, a GOP delegate who lives in La Jolla and serves as chief operating officer of Brahma Holdings, an investment company.

Heubusch, a longtime McCain supporter, is a former Capitol Hill staffer with a long history of involvement in Republican Party politics at the national level.

“I’m looking for inspiration” at the convention, Heubusch said. “These conventions are filled with everything from strategy sessions to training on how to raise money, a lot of networking with other important Republicans, sharing of ideas.”

“What my presence is going to be about is adding one more voice to the movement, I’m looking to add to the momentum to help (McCain) win what is going to be a very competitive race,” he said.

An increased interest by the public in this year’s presidential election should result in more Americans watching this year’s conventions on television than in recent elections, Heubusch said. “It’s going to be something people are going to want to tune in to.”
Obama delegate Carla Mays, a Carlsbad resident, is looking forward to the Democratic convention, where she wants to talk about such issues as passing a new GI bill for veterans, job creation, education and the environment.

“I do a lot of listening to Obama supporters here in the 50th, talking to them and being engaged,” said Mays, a recent college graduate who is starting a consulting business focusing on philanthropy and marketing. “It’s going there to represent them. I don’t feel I’m going there to represent myself, but to represent them and make sure Obama is the nominee.”

Obama’s strength, Mays said, is his ability to cross the aisle to achieve results.

“Partisan politics has no place. It serves no purpose and it hurts us,” Mays said.

During the mid-’90s, Mays toured the U.S. with the MTV “Rock the Vote” campaign, and helped register thousands of young voters. Later this month, she will travel to Puerto Rico to help coordinate a campaign for Obama in advance of that U.S commonwealth’s Democratic primary election.

While all of the local delegates are excited about attending this summer’s conventions, the GOP conclave will be especially meaningful for Scripps Ranch resident Tony Krvaric, an immigrant from Sweden who became a U.S. citizen in 2003.
Krvaric, a financial planner and current chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party, said the opportunity to be a convention delegate will be “extra special” to him.

“Now I’m really at the core of how we run our country, it’s just electrifying to me,” he said.

As a teen-ager in Sweden, Krvaric said, he was inspired to read and see the statements of Ronald Reagan on such issues as standing up to aggression by the former Soviet Union and championing the free market system.

At the convention, he said, he looks forward to meeting other activists and forging relationships that he hopes will last for years to come.
To Krvaric, the United States represents unlimited opportunity: “Anything’s possible,” he said. “It’s very emotional and very inspiring for me.”