At Saturday's Democratic precinct caucuses — at least the one I attended — the Obama presence was no less overwhelming. Obama signs, buttons, and banners were everywhere in the packed high school auditorium. In my precinct, the numbers also reflected this. Of the 66 of us there, 45 were Obama supporters to Hillary Clinton's 15, while 5 were uncommitted on the first ballot. By the time of the second ballot, both Hillary and Obama picked up 2 each of the uncommitteds.
This seems to reflect the statewide trend in Washington, where as I write this Obama is winning the state by a two to one margin over Clinton. In our precinct, we are sending four Obama delegates (including myself) and two Clinton delegates to the District caucus in April.
The whole caucus system can itself be a little chaotic. With the huge turnout on Saturday, our own meeting was a fairly crazy affair with most of us flying by the skin of our teeth. Our group often found itself competing for volume with the various other precincts crowded into the high school auditorium. For at least the first several minutes, there was also the little problem that none of us really knew what we were doing.
The fact that support was divided between just two candidates however made the speeches, debates and such go much easier.
Four years ago when I attended my last precinct caucus, support was divided between two camps — the John Kerry folks and everybody else. Convincing the anti-Kerry contingent — supporting everyone from Edwards to Al Sharpton — to band together in an uncommitted block just to guarantee some of us would get to the District caucus was challenging to say the least. The two Kucinich folks were a particularly tough sell. This time around, the five uncommitteds simply asked supporters of Obama and Hillary to make their case. They did so, splitting that vote right down in the middle.
Article comments
1 - Donald Gibson
Great article.
Because of our little Primary fiasco (there's always a voting fiasco here), Florida misses out on seeing the Democratic candidates (specifically Obama) during this Primary season.
Steve & Edie still pump up our massive senior citizen population though.
- Donald
2 - Lee Richards
Talk about getting attention, here in Virginia you can't go a hour without a phone call or a candidate showing up.
Today alone I've gotten recorded calls from Clinton(Hillary), Clinton(Bill) & Obama.
McCain and Huckabee called yesterday, and there were other calls I didn't listen to.
Clinton(H) was in town today, Clinton(B.) will be here tomorrow and Obama also, I think.
Virginia may go red in November as usual(but then again, maybe not. It depends on who the Democrats run but both of them have more support here then the Democrats usually muster in presidential elections.) But in February we have what they all want and think they can win-delegates.
3 - Douglas Mays
h yeah. It was bitch just to find parking in the Queen Anne neighborhood last Saturday....It was a rock n roll type deal.
Hillary's total Washington audience was probably just as big as Obama's, but she spread the numbers around the state.
do you remember back when Bill was running and he spoke at the Market? That was rock n roll also. Wasn't that like a 20,000 audience deal?
hhhmmm...what to think of it all?
Oh, besides Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks don't forget Amazon.com
Rock on!
DM
4 - Glen Boyd
The latest deal I'm hearing now is about people fainting at Obama's rallies. Shades of Beatlemania...
-Glen
5 - Steve
This is the song that Obama reminds me of.
Barack Obama, Superstar.
Who are you, what kind of change are you are talking about?
Barack Obama, Superstar,
Who are you, what kind of change are you are talking about?
Barack Obama, Superstar
Who are you, what kind of change are you talking about?
Adoph Hitler could really rally those masses, and Olde Joe Stalin could make them walk barefoot through broken glasses, And Ho Chin Minn, he could bring the crowd in, and that Po Pot he know how his words could make them hot...
Now do you believe?
Now Marshall Applewhite made them think that they were going to go to Heaven on a comet, and David Koresh he sent his faithful on a path to Armageddon. And of course we all know about olde Jim Jones. His people did what he told em and that Kool-aid got overflowin...
Now do you believe? (the mesmerized crowd shouts back Yes we Believe) Now do you believe?(louder) Yes, we believe! Hallelujah now get that sister some water (the front row of women then faints).
Barack Obama, Superstar,
Who are you, what kind of change are you are talking about?
Barack Obama, Superstar
Who are you, what kind of change are you talking about?
Now do you see yourself as as Che's Second comin... Or maybe you set yourself up on a path even higher. Perhaps you do see yourself as the new Messiah, start a new religion with you as its idol.
Do you believe?
Cults of personalities well they very rarely end well and with yours it could set the earth a trembling... For when you come unglued as all cult leaders in the end do, you could push that nuclear button and set the earth afire..
Barack Obama, Superstar,
Who are you, what kind of change are you are talking about?
Barack Obama, Superstar!
Who are you, what kind of change are you talking about?
Barack Obama, Superstar!
Turing America into one big Manson Family
Barack Obama, Superstar!
Turning America into one big Manson Family
6 - Alessandro Machi
The polls in Washington just prior to the Washington Caucus showed the two candidates very close, Hillary Clinton may even have been leading.
But caucuses seem to bring out the youth more than the older vote. Primaries seem a more accurate way to gauge the popularity of a candidate, especially since that is how it is done in the fall.
Caucus Cheating
Fair Reflection