The Caucus

Okay, this is a bit late, but I unfortunately came down with a rather nasty sore throat, which has made me lean towards avoiding work rather than writing. But last Tuesday (which was super) I attended a local caucus to watch the democratic process in action.

The process was divided into two sections. Firstly, the casting of your preferred presidential candidate for your party (in this case Democrats), and secondly a caucus which is designed to choose people to represent local issues at a higher level. It was meant to start at 6.30, presidential stuff over by 7, and caucus complete at 8.30.

Rocking up at 6.30, the line was already out the doors of the local school where it was being held, and rapidly expanding around the block. We're talking well below freezing temperatures. So many hipsters! Wearing skinny jeans and tight jackets, huddled together against the cold. Surreal moment of the night? When the cops arrived to herd some hobos out of the basement. I have no idea why there were hobos in the basement, but I hope they had somewhere to go.

The number of people who showed up defied expectations. This was for a relatively small precinct, and well over 1,000 people showed to cast their choice for presidential nominee. And it was entirely Obama dominated. What's really funny isn't that they didn't require any proof of ID, just a letter or bill addressed to you, or the word of a neighbour. Begging for fraud, but the entire thing was out of control.

One of my friends was working the line, selling the people on a senatorial candidate Jack Nelson Pallmeyer. He seems to be a good guy, but I felt sorry for the folks who couldn't escape her as they were stuck in the queue, waiting to cast their ballot.

It wasn't till 8.15 that all the voting was done, and the line no longer stretched across any available space. What was meant to take 30 minutes took 105. An amazing turnout out by all considerations.

Then, we got into caucusing. The whole process bewildered me. It was the worst sort of meeting bureaucracy. Agendas, resolutions, shows of hands, and people gradually losing interest and drifting away. What was meant to happen was delegates were meant to be chosen to advance local issues at the next level up of government, of which a few would go to the senatorial body and push for certain candidates who best represent the grassroots feelings. It's a good idea, but over an hour later, we still hadn't sorted out who would do it. Let alone the passing of resolutions showing that were floating about to push for impeachment or anything else. I left at 9.30, thoroughly sick of the whole business and how it was run.

While it's good to see democracy in action, especially at a local level, it was utterly disheartening to see so many people drift away as the caucus dragged on and on. If one is to really try and get people involved, that sort of thing would have to be streamlined remarkably.

Nonetheless, the huge turnouts leave me with hope for the future of democracy in America. If the youth vote feels like its voice is heard, if Obama is elected, then they will remain interested in Politics for the rest of their lives.

TB/AC