Washington caucus ... a report from the ground floor
As the “Dean Counter” for 10 precincts meeting in a nearby elementary school cafeteria, I arrived at the caucus site more than an hour ahead of the scheduled 10am start. “The Doctor Is In” button on my baseball cap, Dean For America t-shirt pulled over my flannel shirt, I was ready to work the room on behalf of my candidate!
One other person, who had been tasked to assist the caucus convenor, was already there. Although neither of us knew where the cafeteria was actually located in the building, my earliness enabled me to place my Dean signs in all the best positions for visibility and positive effect. (It turned out that my only wall-hanging competition came from a few forlorn Kucinich stickers ... none of the other three campaigns put up signs).
In the calm before the storm, I helped set up the room, placing Dean brochures and bumperstickers in strategic locations. People began to drift in at around 9:30. The trickle became a torrent, which became a flood! Suddenly the place was packed with Democrats seeking to find their caucus sign-in sheets, gathering around the tables their precinct had been assigned to, discussing and comparing their choices in the campaign. Looking to pinpoint Dean supporters, I worked my way backward down the line, quickly running through my entire supply of Dean stickers for the excited caucusgoers. Next to go were the dozen or so Dean buttons I’d accumulated over the last year. The line extended along a hallway, then up a short flight of stairs into a small foyer, out the front door of the school, and well out along the sidewalk! For a few moments, all I could do was marvel at the huge turnout at our location.
Though I tried to check the sign-in sheets against my lists of Dean supporters, I soon realized that such efforts were fruitless. The sign-in sheets were now being passed around at each precinct’s tables rather than staying at a front check-in desk, and the supply of official three-part paper sheets had long since been exhausted. People were now signing in on notebook paper, or on the backs of campaign literature ... wherever they could find the space. There was no point in trying to call supporters who hadn’t shown up yet, both because we were almost to the cutoff time (10:30) and because I didn’t have a clue who was or wasn’t on site. So much for using the brand-spanking new cellphone (my first) I’d just bought in order to make such calls. After a quick run around the site to observe the numbers of people at all the caucuses, I now moved to my own precinct to participate in the actual caucus procedure.
Comments
Wow, I wish NY had caucuses, more and more. Sounds like politics at its purist.
Yes, but…
Stay tuned for some reflections on what was good and what was not-so-good about the caucuses.
Well, put up the reflections quick; I’m going to the Hawai’i ones on Feb 24. ;)
Argh...so are you as depressed as I am about Dean dropping out?
You guys did a great job in Washington State though...I think he got his highest margin there of anywhere...31%. Not bad, considering the way the media turned on him and was making it seem like his campaign was over at that point.
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