What I Saw at the Caucus
Apr. 6th, 2008 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saavedra77I left yesterday's 43rd Legislative District Caucus exhausted but pretty happy, on balance:
The event took place at what was confusingly described as the "former Lincoln (current Garfield) High School in Wallingford." Hilariously, all the way from Capitol Hill, people kept boarding the Route 44 bus asking the driver to let them know before she got to 45th and Interlake (she actually wasn't sure where that intersection was on the route, but we figured it out).
People poured in from 9:00 AM until after after 10:00 AM, when the caucus was scheduled to begin. Turnout again exceeded expectations, leaving late arrivals to stand or sit in the aisles. After the ritual speeches by various local politicians (and ... that Lord of the Rings guy ...) and seemingly interminable credentialing process, the caucus finally got down to business around 1:00 PM. The District's delegates to the State Caucus in Spokane and the National Convention in Denver were allocated: 53 for Obama, 14 for Clinton.
We then broke into sub-caucuses to select which of us would actually be among them. The sub-caucuses amounted to a kind of crude political theater in the high school gym, a weird combination of pep rally and game show in which would-be delegates made (often impromptu) 30-second pitches about why they ought to go on to the next level. The choices weren't actually all that hard: I put a check down besides the names of people who listed specific accomplishments in the areas of public service, organizing, and/or nonprofit work, and quickly came up with a list of 53 Obama delegates. And so, by the time that the candidates were making like leaf-cutter ants at the end, my work there was pretty much done.
(Thankfully, the party's district leadership had had the good sense to leave the development of a Platform to the King County Caucus, next week. If we'd tried to that as well, we would have been there into the night ...)
Then, afterwards, a thousand or so tired, hungry Democrats of various income levels descended upon the restaurants on 45th, which beckoned like the Statue of Liberty with a menu and a latté.
The event took place at what was confusingly described as the "former Lincoln (current Garfield) High School in Wallingford." Hilariously, all the way from Capitol Hill, people kept boarding the Route 44 bus asking the driver to let them know before she got to 45th and Interlake (she actually wasn't sure where that intersection was on the route, but we figured it out).
People poured in from 9:00 AM until after after 10:00 AM, when the caucus was scheduled to begin. Turnout again exceeded expectations, leaving late arrivals to stand or sit in the aisles. After the ritual speeches by various local politicians (and ... that Lord of the Rings guy ...) and seemingly interminable credentialing process, the caucus finally got down to business around 1:00 PM. The District's delegates to the State Caucus in Spokane and the National Convention in Denver were allocated: 53 for Obama, 14 for Clinton.
We then broke into sub-caucuses to select which of us would actually be among them. The sub-caucuses amounted to a kind of crude political theater in the high school gym, a weird combination of pep rally and game show in which would-be delegates made (often impromptu) 30-second pitches about why they ought to go on to the next level. The choices weren't actually all that hard: I put a check down besides the names of people who listed specific accomplishments in the areas of public service, organizing, and/or nonprofit work, and quickly came up with a list of 53 Obama delegates. And so, by the time that the candidates were making like leaf-cutter ants at the end, my work there was pretty much done.
(Thankfully, the party's district leadership had had the good sense to leave the development of a Platform to the King County Caucus, next week. If we'd tried to that as well, we would have been there into the night ...)
Then, afterwards, a thousand or so tired, hungry Democrats of various income levels descended upon the restaurants on 45th, which beckoned like the Statue of Liberty with a menu and a latté.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-07 01:17 am (UTC)I wasn't sorry not to have to stay. I caucused for Dean four years ago and we were at the district event until 5 - they weren't expecting over 1,000 people and didn't warn us to bring food.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-07 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-07 02:27 am (UTC)Sean seemed like a nice guy, at least.
But after all the Hillary v. Barry drama of the past month, I got the feeling that he was nervous about advocating her case to a heavily pro-Obama room.
Also, he was running really, really late, which had kind of ticked people off. All that probably threw him off his game.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-07 02:32 am (UTC)