Delegate bows out as Obama fights on

PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press

Boston University freshman Brendan Ryan can now say he and Sen. Barack Obama have something in common: Both experienced defeat in the most recent primary election.

Ryan, a College of General Studies student who ran on the Rhode Island ballot in hopes of becoming an Obama delegate, will not go on to the Democratic National Convention this August.


"I was pretty disappointed," Ryan said. "I would have liked to have been able to go, but it was the first time I ever ran for anything, so I wasn't expecting too much."

Ryan picked up 7,228 votes in his district. He placed 14th among 16 delegate candidates and, although he did not win a spot at the convention, he won his home precinct.

Democratic primary electors appointed the top seven "vote-getters" from Ryan's district as elected delegates, Chris Barnett, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Secretary of State Elections and Civics Division, said. Ryan had a smaller chance of winning a delegate spot because Obama lost to Sen. Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's primary election and was consequently allotted fewer of the seven delegates.

Barnett said voters typically do not recognize the names of delegate candidates, so many factors could explain their votes.
"I'm sure there are all sorts of methods voters use," he said. "For example, alphabetical order . . . There are countless answers to the question of how voters make their choices."

Ryan said that although he will not go to the DNC, the experience was still worth his effort.

"It was cool to know that so many did vote for me in the first place that I never met," he said.

Ryan said his father thinks his Irish last name could have won him votes in an area largely populated by Irish Americans.

"Mostly people are just picking randomly," he said. "A lot of people don't understand what they're voting for, anyway."

He said he could see himself running as a delegate again in the future, depending on the candidates. Although his family and friends would have liked to see him win, they have been very supportive, he said.

"I'm very glad I did it. It was definitely very interesting," he said. "I got to do something not a lot of people get to do."