The caucus that almost wasn’t
Between me battling a nasty virus that’s had me bedridden for three days and Knox putting out his back at the last minute, it’s a miracle we made it to caucus at all. But we did! It was exciting to see so many people participating in democracy: it was standing room only for the two hundred folks in room 113.
This was my first caucus ever. Here’s how it works: people declare which candidate they support and volunteers tally preferences and determine the initial allocation of delegates. You get a chance to change your mind, and then each candidate’s supporters choose delegates for the caucus at the next higher level.
My impressions: this is a slow, inefficient process that exacerbates the influence of peer pressure from your neighbors. I think that a primary election would be much simpler. (Oh, wait, we have that too in Washington, except it doesn’t count for the Democrats and only half-counts for Republicans). It seems like a good reason to have neighbors coming together is to propose platform items or initiatives to pas up the political chain. I support that. But to back a candidate? There are so many levels of indirection in the American system, beginning with caucuses and ending with the electoral college.
I think both Clinton and Obama would make excellent presidents, and the substantive differences between them pale next to differences they each have with the Republicans. But for all the talk of experience and change, there’s still a lot of the same old bull flying around on all sides:
Clinton: “When Hillary is in the White House, no American will be invisible to the president of the United States.”
Obama: Listen the rousing background music of this clip of Kennedy’s endorsement. It’s like watching Star Wars: A New Hope for the Universe
Obama’s supporters, for all their enthusiasm, would do well to remember that Obama is not Jesus.
Dirty cybersquatting: http://www.wa-democrats.org/ is the Democratic website; http://www.wa-democrats.com/ is the Republican website.
I’m actually quite excited about this election. Our eight-year national nightmare will (better!) finally come to an end. But I doubt policies will change as quickly and radically as I think they should.
But change is coming.