Or "A raucous caucus, as it were."
I've just come from the WA Democratic caucus for my district.
According to MapQuest it was only a one-minute drive from my apartment, so I chose to walk.
What I didn't know till I was halfway there is that it was at the bottom of a hill. So I said, "Walking back should be fun..."
There were a lot of people there.
Our local news is describing it as a "huge turnout." There seemed to be a pretty wide age spread, with (maybe) more women than men. The faces were heavily white
, but so is my district.It was my first time at a caucus, and I wasn't the only one.
In previous elections, by this time of year the nominee has usually been a fait accompli, but this time it really seems to matter.
I overheard many people speaking of being excited about this election...and the Democrats, by my watch, haven't had that since 1992.
I supported Obama, who was very popular in my district. At first he got three delegates to Hillary Clinton's one (IIRC), then four when an undecided made up their mind.
Why am I for Obama? No one can say for sure all of what the next president will face, but I believe he has the better chance. He is, simply, inspiring. And we're gonna need that.
The cliché is that he's "bringing people together," and maybe he is, and we're gonna need that too.
We're also gonna need a salesperson. I do probably agree with more of his platform than Hillary Clinton's, but it's a difference of, like, less than two percent.
Should Clinton be the nominee, as I said over on The Red Queen's blog the other day, I will vote for her with a song in my heart and a smile on my face. But it's not just about whose policies you agree with-though don't get me wrong, it is about that and should be. It's also about who you think can get things done.
Also, make of this what you will, but in the past week I have received at least five phone calls, probably more, urging me to support Clinton. They were all prerecorded message tapes.
I received exactly one call for Obama, and it was an actual human being. They didn't give me a spiel but merely asked if knew where my caucus was and how to find it. I said yes to the first and no to the second, but that I was already intending to go and would find out.
He thanked me and said goodbye. That was this morning.
Granted, he woke me up, but I've been trying to get up earlier anyway.
(Meanwhile, Ron Paul supporters left a packet of junk mail on all of our doorsteps here, and as I was walking back from the caucus, I saw a plane dragging a Paul banner. You can't fault them for commitment...or that they should be.)
Perhaps I shouldn't admit this. I worry it'll sound sexist. But, sometimes I get the idea people supporting Hillary Clinton are doing so because of what (they think) she represents. Whereas those of us supporting Obama are doing so because of the person we think he is.
Let me try to make it clear--I'm not asserting that this is an absolute truth: Just that, sometimes, I do get the idea.
Will he be a great president? Damned if I know. But again, I think he has the better chance.
Anecdotal evidence: A well-spoken, pretty Obama supporter and one of our delegates (who looked very little like Anne Hathaway, but what the hey, this is still my blog).
Originally from North Dakota, she said she had convinced her father to switch his vote to Obama from John McCain (!).
BTW, the walk back up the hill was much easier than I was afraid it was going to be, the rise seemed very gentle.
I imagine there are two possible reasons for this. One is that I still have muscle memory from walking up the hills in San Francisco, so this wasn't anything I couldn’t handle.
The other is that the exercising, walking and such I've been doing, may be, actually, in a way, kind of...getting me into shape.
Just what shape is another matter...
ETA: Obama is the projected winner, both here and in Nebraska.
ETA, again: In fact, he "swept" both states and the Louisiana primary.
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