I Caucused Today

[Emit]

I was a volunteer at the caucus and, all in all, I think things went pretty smoothly for us. There was potential for disaster, and I think, from the criticisms I've been seeing, having a good solid base of fair-minded volunteers is what makes things run more smoothly at these events. We had four good folks (5 including myself), including my SO who re-registered as a Dem to participate and ended up being a great and much needed volunteer!

I learned only this week that my services were needed -- I started a new job back in October, so I had given up my volunteer work with the Party back then. But, I was asked by my neighbor if I could help -- he had just been asked to chair the caucus. I immediately said yes, I'd do whatever was needed. We both went to caucus training this week, picked up the materials from Dem HQs, and bought supplies -- paper, markers, food, water, name tags, masking tape, etc. (can I write this stuff off as a donation on my taxes? :shrug: :)) Anyway, better to be prepared than get up there in front of 150 people, some whom you know, and be ill-prepared.

I stayed up late last night making signs for each candidate, agonizing over whether they were equally spaced, spelled correctly and of equal size and aesthetic. Nothing fancy. I didn't want anyone to think we were playing favorites. ("Who's Gravel?", most people asked.) I re-read the caucus rules twice to ensure I knew what the heck I was doing.

I arrived at the caucus early this morning, and I was met by a group of Clinton/AFSCME supporters from Iowa who assured me they could volunteer for us. They seemed eager and sincere, but I did wonder why one kept suggesting that she would help us count. I thanked them for their offer and immediately gave them a name tag that said "Observer" and sent them to where we had set up a place for observers. I told them that they could not participate in any aspect of the caucus. The Caucus Chair backed me up on this -- we set the ground rules from the start with observers, and I think that saved us some hassles in the long run. (Observers were strictly forbidden to walk around after the meeting was called to order.)

After 11 am. the line outside suddenly doubled! Having been a District volunteer since '04, I knew our precinct and the precincts surrounding ours (I've probably walked almost every street), so I was able to help manage the lengthy line of people outside standing in the cold. I grabbed maps that I had printed out (experienced canvassers know that most voters don't know what precinct they live in) and walked the line to check if they were in the correct location. Many were not in the right location and I directed some to the precinct around the corner, down the street, etc. We even had a couple of Republicans looking for their caucus site, and I just happened to know where that was, too. ;)

The Obama observer was concerned that I would close the door at 11:30 -- he had heard me tell a gentleman that he was in the wrong place and needed to be at a school down the block by 11:30. I assured the Obama observer that we would get everyone in. I was very cognizant of the fact that the observers were making sure we were running a fair caucus -- and our Caucus Chair knew the importance of this, too.

We had 44 new voter registrants -- checking people in was a laborious process. But we got it done, asking for people's patience and consideration.

The Caucus Chair was great. He joked with the crowd, made them feel comfortable, and told them that with their cooperation, we could have them all out as soon as possible. I had a good community feeling of being in a meeting with people I know -- many of my neighbors attended, to my surprise.

It was a bit awkward casting my 'vote' in public. My two candidates didn't meet the viability required and I had to re-align. It was the toughest decision in my voting career, and I felt odd making a choice like that with others watching and trying to convince me. The second re-alignment was exciting, because the two big camps -- Hillary and Obama -- were trying to convince the smaller two groups --Kucinich and Edwards -- to come to their sides. The Hillary and Obama folks surrounded our small group. Two people left in defiance -- I ran after them to make sure they knew that if they left, they forfeited their 'vote.' "If I can't vote for my guy, I can't vote for anyone!" one strong Edwards supporter yelled at me. Of all the voters in the room, my SO was the most vocal. I was inspired and was proud to hear that he had been paying attention all this time. ;)

I could go on, and I appreciate all who care to read this. On the one hand, I feel proud to have been able to participate in a community event like this -- being in a room full of Democrats who took time from their day to support change was exciting -- the positive energy was palpable. On the other hand, I remain saddened and still cynical that candidates with sincere and important messages have been virtually shut out of this race by the media and other powers that be.


I am exhausted.



edit typo

[JeffR]

1. Great post, Emit!

Thanks for sharing your observations, and for all your work.

[Emit]

3. Thanks JeffR

It feels good to have done something, even if I got into the game late this time around. :hi:

[JeffR]

6. Best thing about DU is reading honest observations from the trenches

It's heartening in these dark times.

[Lucinda]

2. Thanks for posting. It sounds like an amazing day.

Sorry you had to shift away from from your first choice. That would be tough for me to do.

[murielm99]

4. Thank you for doing this.

I am not sure that enough people know what it means to do the kind of volunteer work that you do.

It looks different from the inside, doesn't it? Walking precincts, being one of the people on the ground at a caucus or primary, making the calls and finding the people to run or volunteer is important work. Keeping order and organizing for a big event is critical.

Your post clarified much of what happened today.

I'm sorry you had to give up your volunteer work. I hope you are able to continue to pitch in occasionally, like you did today. I know that if I had to go back to work full time, I would have to give up much of what I do for the Democrats here. I think it is important to keep doing what I do, too.

Great post!

[Emit]

16. Thanks, murielm99

It is different from the inside -- and with the Democratic Party, voters who are not involved often don't seem to understand that their party is what they -- we -- make of it; that it requires involvement from average folks. I think we got this message across to our crowd yesterday -- and for that, we actually may have some new volunteers and participants. In that sense, the caucus may have been successful. We had an overflow of people in the room wanting to be delegates, where as in '06, we had only 3 wanting to be delegates. By bringing the caucus to a neighborhood level, rather than to some remote area at some unadvertised (or poorly advertised) time, it almost forced people to get involved on a different level. For that I remain hopeful.

I wasn't meaning to make a post patting myself on the back. I wanted first to let others here know that not all the caucuses in NV had the problems we read about yesterday from Kos and elsewhere. It doesn't surprise me that these problems happened. We had record turnout in areas that are known for their apathy. We were ill-prepared in a lot of ways because we lacked volunteers going into this, and those who did volunteer often didn't know what they were getting themselves into. We had an advantage in our group because several of us there had volunteered in the past and/or had managed crowds (our Chair was used to this kind of environment and knew how to run this type of meeting.)

Anyway, thanks for your input and thanks for your volunteer service to the Democrats in your state. Sounds like you know exactly what it takes to be in the trenches, and you have the interest and passion for it, and I admire you for that. I'm going to continue when I can to stay involved with the party here. :hi:

[orleans]

5. very interesting--and i read the whole thing.

i can't imagine going to a caucus--and voting in front of my neighbors. (what if one neighbor was one way and the other another way--and they both want you to ...well, you know. or what if one of your clients wanted you and another client ...etc)

i have never really understood the point to a caucus instead of a fill-in-the-oval vote. can anyone caucus? or only selected people?

and good for you for being such an active member! sounds like you did great.

[SoCalDem]

8. the caucus is the closest thing to Instant run-off that we have

If you cast a vote for someone who "has no chance", you do not necessarily know that at the time, and then your vote is not going to count for much,but if you then have a chance to vote for your second chance, and in doing so, can prevent your last choice from winning by one vote, then you did make a difference

[Emit]

25. That's the example I used when I encouraged folks I knew to participate

So far, most of the people I knew who were apprehensive about the process and who I tried to convince to go, went, except for one, who just couldn't stand the idea of voting in public.

[ClayZ]

7. Thank you! Great Post! K and R

Sounds like a very interesting, exciting day!

[mahina]

9. Rec'd 5, Thank you!

"On the other hand, I remain saddened and still cynical that candidates with sincere and important messages have been virtually shut out of this race by the media and other powers that be."...Me, too.
Aloha.

[freefall]

10. Thank you for your volunteerism and for this interesting, informative

post! :kick:

Peace,

freefall

[joshcryer]

11. The whole caucusing process is just fascinating.

Someone else, I believe their nickname was Enlightment or something, shared a similar story. It's amazing.

I personally am for the whole direct democracy thing, but it still sounds like there's some interesting stuff happening there, and you can't hate it on those grounds. :)

[Emit]

23. I just got a call from a firend who was very apprehensive about going

She's psyched now and wants to go to the county convention as an observer. For all her doubts, and with 240 people who participated in her caucus, she said it was a really good experience and she had no regrets about the process, for what it was. She still wold've prefered a primary with a ballot, but, all in all, she said things were good.

[babylonsister]

12. Thanks very much, Emit. Great report. Sounds like your

caucus was a lot more organized and better run than others I've read about. Good job!

[Emit]

21. Thanks, babylonsister

Didn't mean to toot my own horn there -- it was the Caucus Chair that ran the meeting -- set the tone -- and the Secretary that had to deal with most of the paperwork. Kudos to them, if they're reading. :hi:

All in all, though, we had an advantage in that each volunteer brought some expertise. We were all also very concerned about being fair, which was helpful in instilling trust in the process.

I can imagine the Party had a terrible time filling these caucus chair roles -- it's hard to find decent, reliable volunteers. I feel for these caucus goers who are reporting that their's didn't run so well. Maybe next time they can put their name in the hat and help make the process run more smoothly and more fairly.

[EFerrari]

13. I really enjoyed reading that. The process was more or less

a mystery to me before coming to DU. :hi:

[Emit]

26. Thanks for reading my lengthy account, sfexpat2000 !

:hi:

[DemReadingDU]

14. Thank you, very interesting to read

I see now why Edwards only received 4% of the vote. It should have been larger.

:(

Isn't there a way in a caucus, if a candidate such as Edwards not having enough viability, that other caucusers from either Obama or Clinton or Kucinich couldn't be swayed to join the Edwards group to keep Edwards viable?

[Emit]

15. Yes, that can happen

I've talked with friends from other precincts where they were able to pull that off -- garner support from other groups to allow their candidate to receive a delegate or two. (Most of my friends are Edwards or Kucinich supporters.)


In our case, our numbers were much too small and that would've required 10 or 11 people to switch to our group. Considering that the Clinton and Obama groups' numbers were so close -- each had about 60 or 65 -- none of them were interesting in giving up any people. These two groups dominated the caucus with their numbers.

I was very surprised that Edwards didn't have more support -- considering that I live in a pretty working class neighborhood - lots of union workers here.

In all honesty, I almost didn't cast a preference ballot yesterday. In that case, I was encouraged by peer pressure not to abstain from the process. I literally made up my mind in the last 30 seconds and was the very last in the room to make my decision.

[DemReadingDU]

17. a valuable experience

I have learned much from your posting today.

I wish more people would understand the importance of voting for Edwards in these early primaries and caucuses to keep him viable. I'm in Ohio and it will be March before our primary is held.
I think the candidate will already be decided by then. :(

[IDemo]

18. Is every caucus-goer expected to actively solicit support from opposing camps?

This is something I can't seem to find an answer to, despite extensive Googling on the topic. After one finds him or herself situated in the candidates group they intend to vote for, and "unviable" candidates (if any) are determined, does it basically become a free-for-all as individuals beg and plead for recruits? I couldn't sell an ice cold beer to a man dying of thirst in Death Valley, so I tend to doubt I would be of much use in a situation like that.

[Emit]

19. In our case, yes, any one from any group could go and try to convince others

We were encouraged in training to suggest that each group pick a representative to do this, as that might be easier in a large crowd. But, the Chair in our case, and I agreed, felt that only a few people from each group would be motivated enough to get up and do the deed. As it turned out, about seven of the most outspoken Clinton supporters came over to our group. The Obama folks were sitting right next to us, and entered the discussion almost as a reaction to Hillary's people (and that's their term, not mine -- they kept referring to themselves as "Hillary's people" and even brought their own food and stuff -- they were very organized.) The Obama people were less aggressive on the whole in any concerted effort. They were more laid back and appeared less interested in trying to convince anyone of anything. Don't get me wrong, though. They had a precinct captain -- a registered voter in our precinct -- who was very involved and very vocal, too; and Obama's supporters were set in their support. On the whole, they were a younger crowd, I noticed.

So, yes, it was a free-for-all, but many people didn't do anything but sit back and watch what amounted to about 20 people or less go at it. I imagine it was an interesting experience for them -- it sure was for me.

[IDemo]

20. Thanks, Emit

It sounds like quite a task to change someone's mind who is motivated enough to support candidate "X" in the first place. I personally wouldn't feel very comfortable in that process. Give me a nice quiet voting booth any day!

[The Straight Story]

22. Great read and a kick (nt)

[City Lights]

24. Thanks for sharing your experience, Emit.

Very interesting and informative. I think it would be very awkward casting my vote in public, and I'm glad we have a primary here. :-)