Being Oregonians, Cheryl and I have participated in many primaries and general elections, but this was our first caucus, and we were weirdly excited about it. Part of it was that we'd never participated in one, and part of it was, hey, something new to do on Tuesday night besides the exciting CW lineup.
Let's just say I was stunned. In a rural county in north-central Idaho (yes, the University of Idaho is here, but this is still podunk country), on a cold, snowy night, there were - I kid you not - hundreds of people at the caucus site.
I didn't know there were that many Democrats in Idaho, let along Latah County.
Cheryl and I are both Obama supporters, and we were not alone. Pretty much everyone there was wearing Obama stickers - the Obama campaign and U of I Democrats did a stellar job of getting out the vote (and, of course, they had snacks - I'll vote for anyone who'll give me free food).
There was a small Clinton contingent of roughly 30 people - not a one younger than forty by my eyes - a handful of Edwards loyalists and a few "uncommitted" folks hoping Gravel or Kucinich might show up just for the hell of it. And they had no snacks! What did I just say about food getting my vote?
Sadly, we had to leave before all the official voting occurred, as Cheryl got a little overheated and queasy in the literally-packed-to-the-gills caucus room (fortunately, we literally live a block away from the caucus site, so it was a short walk home). But, all in all, it was a fun time, and, if you're an Obama supporter, you can be heartened to think that he carried a tiny rural county in the middle of nowhere, and the entire state of Idaho (which, not so long ago, was better known as America's biggest exporter of neo-Nazis) went for Obama 85/15...well, maybe there's hope for us yet.
Dave
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6 comments:
Wow - Caucus!
I'm going to the Washington Demo caucus on Saturday.
For Obama.
and I'm WAYYYYYYY over 40.
Let me just say...
The Obama supporters ranged from college kids to old folks. There were a few younger folks in the small Hillary contingent, but not many! The coolest thing was all the kids there. Parents brought their children, ranging from babies to teenagers. love to see democracy at work!
Cheryl
So Cheryl and Dave, was that your first Caucus? It was mine...and I'm not sure I like the process. I came out of there feeling tired and anxious, but needed a good workout at the Rec Center to get rid of some of the steam build-up. I can see where Cheryl could have gotten more than a little tired
It was held in Pullman H.S. and I think it was very much in the "high school" mode, if you know what I mean.
For the most part, the people in our small group were very civil and thoughtful, but as usual, there was one individual who was rude (constantly interrupting speakers), nasty (vituperative against Senator Clinton, to the point of declaring that he would vote for John McCain rather than for Hillary Clinton), and a bully (trying to force people to agree with his diatribes) and I think our moderator was taken aback at having to act like a High School teacher in keeping this person under control.
The majority for Obama was so large that there really was very little need to try to change Clinton supporters into Obama supporters. I think it was a credit to the undecideds and the two Clinton supporters who were wavering and went over to Obama that they were not totally turned off!
I'm interested to see what happens in Maine, which is my other "home state."
But I'd rather have a primary than a caucus anyday.
How's the thesis coming? I'm plugging away. Trying not to get drawn into spending all my time on perfecting the jpeg images of the sites, which could be a form of insidious procrastination.
I can do that while Tim is reviewing my draft chapters (AFTER he reviews yours, of course!)
As an outside observer, and unable to vote, I deplore the US's seeming fixation with getting an intelligent President. Please, please bring in Huckabee, the US would be such an entertaining place!
Trev
Gosh, Trevor, you're so right. We've had seven years of stellar entertainment, so Huckabee would certainly be a dynamic follow-up act.
And maybe I wouldn't ever have to teach evolution again in Introduction to Anthropology! Think of how much time that would give me to discuss Family Values.
[insert smiley face icon here]
Diane
Well, dammit Diane, if you ain't one of those bloody 'ologists teaching evilution.
You're going to mess up the chance creationi$t$ would have had building a mu$eum in every state devoted to the flud, etc. I was very much looking forward to visiting one of them, seeing dinos as vegetarians b'fore the 'fall.
I can't see why Cheryl would be rooting for Obama, given her Thesis is on Nephite pottery. Or something like that.
:))
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