My Personal Story: The N E B R A S K A Caucus = Cluster Fuck

[RoadRage]

Today was the Nebraska Caucus. Different counties started at different times, but Douglas County (Most of Omaha, NE) was first to start today at 10:00am.

We were told to get to our location by 9:15 to be able to register, etc. As we arrived, we already saw lines out the door. We needed to get our registration card, and they had set up tables in a very small hallway (about 8 feet wide) to get your card. Letters A-D; E-H; etc. at different tables next to each other along the way. This was also the main hallway into the middle school that we were caucusing at - so people were arriving.. and it was a HUGE mess. No one could get down to the end of the hallway if their last name started with a "Z", etc.

We did finally make our way through the madness, and got our card. We were then instructed to go into the cafeteria where the actual caucus would be held. This room was MAYBE 2,000 sq. feet. TINY. We couldn't caucus in the schools gymnasium, because a YMCA basketball tournament was being held in there all day. THE DAY OF THE FIRST NEBRASKA CAUCUS, AND THEY COULDN'T MOVE THE DAMN TOURNAMENT TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL??? So many people were SOOOO PISSED OFF!

As we crowded in, people were literally shoulder to shoulder. There were no chairs, no drinks (one drinking fountain), no food. At about 9:50, the volunteer running our district said that there were so many people that he wanted people who KNEW that they wouldn't be switching sides to hand in their cards to one of the volunteers and leave - to make room for everyone else. He then said that if we couldn't fit into the room we would be forced to take the caucus outside (20 degrees, 35 mile an hour wind gusts here right now). So, some people just handed in their cards and left. I REALLY hope that these cards all got turned in - no way to tell. No way to ensure that you handed your card into a volunteer that was for your person.. who was going to make sure they were counted. COMPLETE CHAOS.

Finally, around 11:00am - an hour late, we began the caucus. Many were sitting on the floor if they could find space, because people had been there since 9:00am. There were over 1200 people in our location (they were expecting 300 and thought it might grow as big as 500). Obama was HEAVILY favored - probably 4 to 1.

The big nightmare came when we had to "count ourselves" to find out if Hillary was viable. Trying to count 1200 people in a 2,000 sq. foot room was almost impossible. We did the best we could.. figured Hillary had at least 15%, and then spent the next 20 minutes with each group trying to nominate someone to speak on our candidates behalf. Only one person could do it - again, total chaos. It ended up with 3 people wanting to speak for Obama, so all three stood at the front of the room and we clapped for who we thought should talk. Sadly, our guy (who never should have volunteered) spent 1/2 of his 90 seconds flipping through his notes - and had not thought out anything. Luckily it didn't matter.. but I was still pissed, and a lot of people wanted to kill this guy. He was also the only one who could "persuade" the undecideds - and i'd say we probably got half of them. 8 people ended up not choosing a side.

The undecideds wanted to talk, so they elected someone to represent them - and they came up to the front and the guy said "We just want to know who the vice presidential candidate will be for your candidates, that would help us make our decision". We all groaned - obviously no one has a clue - but someone on the Hillary side screamed out that "Edwards will be Clinton's Vice President" and that cause a HUGE uproar. The guy running the caucus spoke up and said that was not "official" and neither candidate had made a decision.. but I still think it's why some of the people went to the Hillary side. UGHGHG!

All over the city people ran out of forms. They were expecting 1/3 of the turnout that they got - and THAT was optimistic (they said).

I think i'll stick to Primaries in the future.. this was total and utter Chaos!

But, GOBAMA! I think he'll take Nebraska!

Here are a few pictures from this mornings madness:

[Hart2008]

1. WOW!

It is good to see people taking an interest in the political process.

:wow:

[New Dawn]

38. I just got back from my precinct, Obama won 64% of the votes here

There were a lot of ex-Republicans supporting both Clinton and Obama. The place was very crowded. Pretty surprising for Nebraska lol.

[New Dawn]

39. BTW, I didn't see anyone that looked under 30 supporting Clinton

All of us younger people were for Obama.

[Faygo Kid]

2. Great report and pics. Thanks.

I get to vote on Tuesday. Looking forward to it.

[Blarch]

3. Thanks for the play by play

[Tatiana]

4. Good Lord! This chaos in Nebraska is absolutely unacceptable.

The national party needs to be investigating why these places have been so unorganized. "First time" is no excuse for poor preparation, organization and planning.

How could they not have expected such a large turnout? Have the officials not been paying attention to the news?

[Hoof Hearted]

44. It's easy to explain why in Nebraska! Dem party has NO MONEY AT ALL in NE!

We've been stomped and beaten and made fun of and ignored for decades by our own state, the national party and pretty much everybody and anybody you can think of. :rant:

I was SO EXCITED to see so many Democrats up, and out and ON FIRE in Nebraska of all places! Even though my candidate did not come out on top, today was a beautiful thing to see. Warts and all.

[Tatiana]

47. We need to get you guys some $$$.

I'm glad to see so many Dems out there.

:hug:

[NastyRiffraff]

5. Wow. On one hand I'm glad there's so much interest.

On the other, I really think caucus states need to rethink the caucus idea. I understand the appeal, but their time may be past. It's best suited to very small communities, where people can actually have conversations/debates on behalf of their candidates. Once it gets over a couple of hundred, it becomes clunky and chaotic. 1200 people is way too many to have a decent discussion, which is what caucuses are supposed to be about.

[RoadRage]

10. I totally agree.. however this was the only way we'd be able to be part of the process.

Our Primary is set for Mid-May, and by then the decision is already made. To change the PRIMARY date, you have to change the state law - and from what I understand, the very REPUBLICAN delegates in our fine state have no intention of changing any of those laws.

You can have a caucus without changing a state law - you only need to have your parties agreement.

So, that was why we decided to have a Caucus. But, there needed to be many more locations with much smaller groups.

This was a straw poll with people showing up in person and hanging around for a while.. i don't think it was a "caucus".

Ughghg!

[NastyRiffraff]

12. Ah. I didn't know about the difficulty in setting a primary date

That makes sense. I agree that the party needs to set many more locations if it's going to have caucuses. Since caucus goers are usually the committed, engaged people, perhaps after this, you all should lobby the Democratic Party about planning better for next time, with lots of locations?

[RoadRage]

16. Exactly..

Although the irony is that this will probably be the "BIGGEST" turnout for generations.. unless Obama & Hillary are again fighting for the next election. ;)

I don't think if Kucinich & Gravel were the 2 left, the turnout would have been this big.. the locations would have worked just fine. (I'm guessing).

[OzarkDem]

17. Agree

It doesn't work well in modern times.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Nebraska should have taken a cue from the other "aska" state.

Our caucus Tuesday night was basically like yours. At our caucus, nobody even got a chance to talk except in generalities, as in "oh, my God, I didn't even know there were this many Democrats in Anchorage." There were over 4,000 participants here alone (and that's in ONE location), compared to about 200 four years ago. We were just herded around like a bunch of cattle because none of the rooms designated for each district was big enough for the crowd. It was insane, but it IS kind of nice to know there are that many Democrats in Anchorage.

[Barack_America]

7. So did she get the %15?

:shrug:

Sorry to hear that your caucus experience was so chaotic.

[RoadRage]

14. Yup.. she was Viable.

From what I'm hearing across Omaha, Obama won every caucus.. by as small of margins of 2 to 1, and as large of margins as 4 to 1.

I think she was viable in every location, but I do not think she came close in any of them.

More info will be coming out this evening when the results are tallied.. i'll be sure to post!

[TheFarseer]

31. I heard she was not viable at a North Omaha location

29 votes for her at one place. At least that's what I saw somewhere on DU

[RoadRage]

35. Yes.. that is true- it was in the heaviest black caucus area..

1400 showed up, and only 26 went to Hillary.

Her not showing up to campaign at ALL, and not sending Bill at ALL, and them deciding only to send Chelsea was a big mistake.

Obama had a rally for 10,000 people in Omaha on Thursday, his wife Michelle met with UNL college kids on Friday, and others at other locations. They spent time here - and will now be seriously rewarded (well - as much as we can with our 31 or so delegates).

[demnan]

8. It might be a cluster fuck but its a healthy one

I'm glad so many people were involved. The more of us who are engaged the better is. Kudos to Nebraska however you voted! :loveya:

[bilgewaterbill]

13. Exactly! Much better to be dealing with too MANY voters than too few.

[K Gardner]

9. "Edwards will be Clinton's Vice President" - per Hillary supporter..

Why am I not surprised that her supporters mimic her lack of integrity and honesty?

[Wombatzu]

11. polling indicates that Clinton supporters are poorly educated

so the supporter might not have been that bright and actually believed what he/she said. you have to give them the benefit of a doubt.

[Hoof Hearted]

45. Violate yourself sideways. At least half of my PhD colleagues caucused for Hillary today.

What an utterly ignorant thing for you to say.

[RoadRage]

15. I am an Obama supporter.. however, I think it was the lack of caucusing experience

more then malicious intent. No one really knew what the hell they were doing.. and our "leader" had to keep people on both sides (but more Obama supporters) away from the "Undecides" until it was officially time to sway them.

I didn't see anything really "unscrupulous" going on by either group except for joking around.

The Clinton supporters weren't really happy though, and they were getting pretty frustrated by the time the thing started. Obama supporters knew that they'd won by a HUGE margin, and the Clinton people sort of looked glum and defeated. But, none of them (aside from the Edwards comment) did or said anything rude, etc.

Additionally - the Obama supporters were upbeat and kept chanting "Yes we can" and "O-bam-a", and that did seem to make the Hillary people a bit frustrated, but there wasn't much they could do. Other then that though, there were no nasty words being said (that I could hear).

[Barack_America]

19. I wonder if Edwards has heard about that?

Methinks he would say, "aw hell NO!"

Not with the number of lobbyists she'd have traipsing through her Oval Office.

[RoadRage]

24. yeah.. if we weren't promptly told to QUIET DOWN by the officials running

the caucus, I was going to ask for a single shred of proof for that absurd statement. I wanted some time to say that Obama doesn't make FALSE statements- he tells the truth even when it's not convinient. And, by following that lead, we were going to all say we have no idea who would be Obama's VP, because at this point in time he probably does not know either.

Honestly it was a stupid question to ask. If these Undecideds came all the way to the caucus, waiting in line for an hour, etc.. you'd think they would have at least done some basic homework on both candidates. They could easily find that neither would be near knowing who a VP would be.

[TankLV]

18. Sounds similar to the one I attended here in Henderson, NV...

welcome to the "club" - you're now a "veteran"!!!

[TwilightGardener]

20. Just got back from my caucus--ALSO a clusterfuck. About 350-400 people--

higher turnout than usual. Obama won!

[RoadRage]

21. I keep hearing this.. so far Clinton has not one ANY district

in the state (yet). In one (North Omaha - heavy black population) she was not viable with 1400 people showing up.. only 26 out of the 1400 went to Clinton.

At ours, with 1200 - i'd guess 800 - 900 for Obama, and 300 - 400 for Clinton. Still impressive numbers in "White, Suburban" West Omaha.

[TwilightGardener]

22. I'm in Cass County, and it was closer--about 200 or so for Obama, 150 or so for Hillary--

lots of Hillary supporters are voting for Hillary because they want Bill Clinton back in the White House, I found out--pretty nuts.

[ShortnFiery]

23. There's no place like NEBRASKA!

:patriot: I lived outside of Omaha during my Junior High Years and remember it fondly.

Yes, I concur - GO Obama! ... and Big RED! :applause: :patriot: :hi:

[VolcanoJen]

25. GOD I LOVE THESE CAUCUS REPORT POSTS!

Thank you!! And great photos!!!!

It might be a clusterf@ck, but I'm really impressed by you Cornhuskers. :-)

[RoadRage]

26. Hell. i think us Cornhuskers are even surprising ourselves!

Over 3,000 showed up to Caucus in the county next to ours (Sarpy), and the traffic was blocked for up to a mile away, so people were told to turn around and go home (on the highway) because there was no where to park, drive, etc.

Very sad.. the big problem was that they could have broken this into smaller sections - they just "didn't anticipate the turnout". How many times have we heard that? FRUSTRATING!

[ReverendDeuce]

36. Pct 31 was better, as my report states...

But I've heard it was chaos at Monroe; and slightly less nuts at other locales.

Ours was done very well. We were the only one not at a school. We had three overflow rooms when it was all said and done. But everybody got a chance to caucus as far as we could tell.

Gobama!

[trashcanistanista]

40. Me too!

I wish I could caucus, it sounds like a blast!:)

[RoadRage]

41. Ughghg.. next time, you can take my place.

Hopefully the party learned a few lessons in NE today. The turnout was huge.. great for democracy, but i don't know of to many people in our state who are happy to do another one.

Give me a 2 minute primary any day.. check my box and go on with my day! LOL

[dempartisan23]

27. great report

it woll be an OBAMA day.

[pstans]

28. Got to love democracy

Caucuses are democracy at its finest.

[barbtries]

29. the good news

is that the people are coming out in droves. happening everywhere it seems, the age of apathy might be over. that makes my eyes swell and gives me hope.

the more i see of caucuses the less i like them. they seem to lend themselves to chaos.

cauchaos

[1776Forever]

30. I'm in FL and they had and are talking about a caucus here to settle things - I would go through it!

This is such a pain I know but it is democracy in its finest form! Standing for the person you want to lead our country. Stand proud! Thank you all!!!!
:headbang: :yourock: :headbang:

[Ediacara]

32. The caucus organizers at my location in Seattle were also urging people to go home if they were 100%

sure they weren't going to switch because it was very very crowded.

[New Dawn]

33. K&R!

[AGirl]

34. caucus sucks for those who have to work.

[RoadRage]

42. Eh.. after today, i'd say Caucuses just sorta suck. Period. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. 4 hours here in Kansas - and we were OUTSIDE in freezing rain

So count your blessings.

Great pictures. :)

[Hoof Hearted]

46. Yes, but Republicans DESERVED it. Only R's caucused in Kansas today.

care to 'splain?

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. 'splain what?

The Dems in KS caucused on Tues and the pukes yesterday.

[Kokonoe]

43. You forgot to mention everyone was in the same line, LOL

This is an election year, do you really think it's an accident!! All I can say is the dirty germs are learning the system. Go Obama1

[IDemo]

49. Sounds much like what I experienced in Boise,

with what they are calling the largest caucus in the nation at 8,300+ voters. There were parts of two congressional districts included. Only 6,500 could fit into the Qwest Arena (ice hockey), with an overflow crowd huddled outside in freezing temps. We showed up two hours early and there were already two huge lines snaking through the public plaza next to the arena, all the way to Main street.

The noise inside was deafening at times, particularly by we Obama supporters. After the first ballot results were in, congressional district #2 showed Obama getting 85% of the vote, and 81% in CD#1. Statewide, Obama wound up with 79%, which I believe is still his highest percentage nationwide so far.

http://www.2news.tv/news/local/15308836.html