This July, 19-year-old government sophomore Karl-Thomas Musselman will represent Texas Senatorial District 24 at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Mass., to cast his ballot for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as the presidential candidate for the 2004 elections.
In Boston, the National Democratic Party will officially elect and present the party's 2004 presidential candidate, who many presume will be Kerry.
Musselman, who began his quest to be the youngest male national delegate from Texas when he was 15 years old, won 80 percent of the votes in his senatorial district in a race with one opponent at the Democratic State Convention last weekend. He said he believes he is part of a larger trend of young people becoming politically involved.
"In many, many states this year, there have been these young delegates that are 18, 19, 20 [years old]," said Musselman. "A lot of times, even [with] these delegate seats, it has been about who's been here the longest - who deserves this seat. But for me, I think it's more based on what I've actively done, what I have given up for the Democratic Party."
Vince Leibowitz, chair of the Van Zandt County Democrats, agrees. In a letter to the state delegates of Senate District 24, Leibowitz urged the district to elect Musselman as national delegate despite his county belonging to another district.
"His record of volunteerism and grassroots activism is unsurpassed by many who have been in our party for decades," Leibowitz wrote. "His hard work for the party and the candidates he has helped show that Karl-Thomas Musselman truly cares about our party's cause and illustrate just how willing he is to promote that cause."
Musselman said he believes in the "Democratic belief of trying to create that social contract," which entails the equality of opportunity for all people, something he said the current administration has not delivered.
So he began working voter registration drives and caucus call rooms, and eventually began working to organize a presidential election campaign. Although he will serve as a Kerry delegate, Musselman originally found his hero in the former governor of Vermont, Howard Dean.
Musselman spent hundreds of dollars traveling across the United States in support of the Dean campaign, where he met Al Gore, Dean himself and many other political activists.
The experience, he said, strengthened his commitment to politics as a career because he encountered the human side of politics that is often overshadowed by the logistics of campaigning. Although Musselman did not express any plans to run for a state election in the near future, the Democratic chair of Gillespie County has high hopes for the young delegate.
"I expect him to be on the 2006 ticket for state office," said chairman George Keller. "Everything he does is aimed at improving himself, getting himself ready for a big election. I see Karl as a person to be a leader in our party."
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