I love the cauc!

Dean and Emi and the madness…

So, Saturday we went to the Washington Democratic Caucuses and had us a merry, little time. I was so worried on the way there that no one would show up because our area of town seems like a buttload of people who just don’t give a shit. We left the house early and by the time we arrived at the college, the place was packed. It was crazy.

Our polling place was expecting about 500 people to show up. There were tons and tons of tables with a sign for each district on each one and you were to find your table and go sign in and cast your vote. Then, each table would tally everything up and then a few people at each table would speak on behalf of the candidate that they were supporting and then everyone had an opportunity to vote again.

It was mayhem. Five hundred people were expected to show up and each table was seated for an estimated fourteen people per district. Then, 2,000 people showed up to vote and our table alone had over fifty people. Outside, was another five hudred people who couldn’t fit indoors. It was absolutely beautiful.

Soooo many people….

I have never seen such a diverse crowd in my life. There were elderly folks running around in Hillary buttons and t shirts and younger voters in Obama shirts directing traffic. There were blacks and Mexicans and Asians and everything in between. It was amazing.

We had fifty plus people at our table and it broke down as such:

There were Hillary supporters and Obama supporters and about ten or so undecideds. People spoke about their candidates and then everyone voted again and our Obama took not only all the undecideds from our table, but a woman in a Hillary t shirt changed her vote to him and also another Clinton supporter switched over as well. In the end, Obama won our district 77% to 23%.

The head of the joint….

There was a guy at our table who was there with his seventeen year old daughter. Her birthday is in August and she had her dad bring her because she really wanted her vote to count. It was so cool to see her there casting her ballot.

I’m obviously an Obama supporter seeing as how I’m a volunteer for his campaign. People think that he is long winded during debates but this seems to happen to any candidate who is intelligent and well spoken. I cannot in good faith vote for Hillary in these initial primaries, although I will support her over McCain if she becomes the nominee. I can’t support her because she voted for the war in Iraq and I also don’t believe in her healthcare plan. Her insistance that she garnish people’s wages to ensure everyone have healthcare is insane to me because it is not like people don’t have healthcare because they don’t want it. It’s because they can’t afford it. Garnishing the poor’s meager wages is terrible even with a tax break. It’s mathmatically, still impossible and people will be even more miserable.

I do worry a lot about Superdelegates, though. So far, our people have spoken for Obama but I worry about smoke filled rooms where shady business dealings go down for Clinton to get the support she needs. Superdelagates deciding the nominee is shitting in the face of democracy and I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that. But, I expect it as she has thus far funded her campaign with the financial backing of those same weapon making big businesses that our current administration supports.

Owen enjoying the political process…

I can only hope that she does the right thing and listens as the American people speak for Obama and backs out before it comes to this, but I doubt she will. All the polls are showing that she probably cannot beat McCain in the general and that Obama does, but I don’t think she cares what is best for our country so long as she WINS. The Republicans are very vocal and snicker when they discuss how badly they hope Hillary gets the nomination because they know what it means.

I fear that her winning off of Superdelagtes will turn off these thousands of new voters from ever casting another ballot. If she wins in this way, then all of the people who stepped out for the first time in support of Obama won’t have any faith in the system and will see their voices as mute. They may choose not to vote in the generals and McCain will win by a landslide.

Olivia having a discussion with someone…

Today is the Maine Caucuses. The week prior to the Washington causes, I placed hundreds of phone calls trying to get backing for Obama and to urge people to attend their district caucuses. I was nervous because during my calls, there seemed to be a pretty balanced support for both candidates. For the past few days, I’ve been on the phone with the people of Maine and it’s weird… there were a lot of Republicans I spoke to who were supporting Obama. I’ll have to laugh out loud if Hillary beats him in that state as his support in Maine seemed so much better than here in WA where he annihilated her.

I placed a load of calls to Louisiana this past week as well and there were just as many French names in Maine as in LA. This surprised me. But, I’m a liberal and I love the French!

Scattered throughout this political post are pictures of the caucus we attended and, as you can see, there were a shitload of people there! I obviously have my political opinion and personal belief but I respect and value the opinions that differ from mine as well. I was quite moved at how many people showed up to support their candidates. One woman I spoke to could not believe the turnout because her last caucus had seven people attend. This was magical and I am so proud of the American people for getting out and creating a movement for change, whether it is in support of Hillary or Barack.

Matthew having a break from running around…

My kids had a great time, which surprised me. They are all loving being included in the political process even though they don’t get to vote. I think it’s great to get them out and listen to people from all sides and let them learn as much as possible about the process of choosing leaders of our country.

Our table was so full and had about a million people standing around it and so I found a near empty table nearby and let the kids sit there when they needed a break. But, for the most part, they ran around and asked questions and listened to what people said.

The kids talking to some other kids who showed up…

It makes me proud that these children will be informed and excited when it is their time to cast votes.