Floyd L. Griffin Jr. participating in his first DNC event

Published 7:00 pm Monday, July 6, 2020

Floyd L. Griffin Jr. has never directly been involved in the Democratic National Convention process, but that’s about to change.

The 74-year-old former state senator and first Black mayor of Milledgeville has been selected as an at-large delegate to the DNC event that is will be hosted in Milwaukee later this year.

The national political event will be held virtually this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Griffin, a retired Army colonel and helicopter pilot in Vietnam, will serve as a surrogate for presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden, who served as vice presidents under Pres. Barack Obama for two terms.

“I’ve never been to a Democratic National Convention or participated in one in any kind of way,” Griffin said.  

“Everything will be done by Zoom because of this pandemic,” Griffin said. “I would imagine that if everything was normal and we were able to have the convention in-person that it would be very exciting.”

Griffin said things have to be done a lot differently to protect everyone’s health.

“If it’s done with as much perfection as possible, then I don’t think it will have a major impact not holding the convention with a large crowd in attendance,” said Griffin. “The important thing is not the convention. The most important thing comes after the convention — getting people fired up and seeing them go to work.”

Griffin said he believes there will be more television coverage devoted to the DNC event than in the past because of the pandemic and other pressing issues confronting Americans.

The selection of Griffin as an at-large delegate is a little different from the way delegates are selected from Congressional districts.

“The district delegates are selected within the Congressional districts,” Griffin told The Union-Recorder in a recent telephone interview. “Each one of the districts has a certain number of delegates that they can select. But the at-large delegates are selected by the Georgia Democratic Party, but they must be approved by the Joe Biden campaign.”

Griffin explained that he was elected to represent Biden.

“That’s who we, as at-large delegates, are expected to vote for,” said Griffin.

Earlier this year, Griffin endorsed the former vice president for president.

Griffin said Biden is the best person running for president, citing Biden’s years of experience as a politician on Capitol Hill and the fact that he served as vice president under President Obama for eight years.

“He’s the only candidate with a solid working knowledge of what is expected of a president,” Griffin said. “And at this point in time, and in this nation, we don’t need a president who has to have on-the-job training. We need someone who can step in there and start making things happen.”

Griffin said that was one of the things that America lacks right now is a leader.

“President Trump has put this country in such a bad position, domestically speaking, and on an international foreign relations level,” Griffin said. “We’ve got to have someone who can go in there and really start making some of these changes come about, and as important as electing Biden president, it’s just as important for him to have a good vice president.”

Griffin said Biden needs a running mate who can do at least two good things.

“Number one — be ready to hit the ground running, and number two — with the many challenges going on in our country today from a domestic standpoint, and from a foreign policy standpoint, Biden needs someone who can help him,” Griffin said. “He’s going to need a lot of help and that’s true of whoever is elected the next president.”

Griffin said whomever Biden selects as his running mate, it is likely to a Black female.

“It is definitely going to be a person of color, which since that’s going to be the case, I think it would be [former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen.] Kamala Harris or [former National Security Advisor] Susan Rice,” Griffin said.

“He’s (Biden) got to have a lot of trust and confidence in [his running mate],” Griffin said. “And secondly, I think the person needs to have national exposure from serving in political office, like a senator or Congressional representative.”