![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsSo, since it was just up the street and I'm committed to electing ABB (anyone but Bush), Omaha and I went to the Democratic Caucus, the girls in tow. It was held at the King County regional law enforcement training center, in the lobby, which was a space that epitomizes routine lobby-and-auditorium architecture from 1985-200 or so-- granite and steel, quarter-face construction. The weather was cold and overcast.
Omaha and I went in and announced that, at least for the purposes of this event, we were Democrats. (I don't think either Republican or Democrat is the right label these days; now, the battle is between libertarians and communitarians.) We found our table and discovered that we were with a party of ten people from our precinct.
Then we discovered that there were six delegates in our precinct. Which meant that out of the party of ten, six of us would have to agree to go to the legislative caucus in May. The people around the table were a mix-- retirees, union workers, veterans, the local fire district commissioner, and one painfully earnest "vote my conscience, not my pragmatism" man. We joked about our local sewer district, so riddled with corruption that it seems like the keystone cops meets the mafia some days, and the Des Moines city council, which is just batshit insane.
Most of the people there were older. We were pretty young ourselves, Omaha and I, compared to a room full of The Democratic Faithful. We had compliments from others about how well-behaved Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan were.
The girls took a quiet corner and played in the coloring books. They were pretty good as we went through the process of picking candidates. I initially voted for Dean, but ultimately switched to Edwards, convincing another along the way until we had as many votes as Kerry. We were split-- two delegates for Kerry, two for Edwards, one for Dean, and one "uncommitted."
And it looks like Omaha and I will both be going to the Legislative Caucus as delegates. I'm going for Edwards (although I can change my vote for any reason at any time), and Omaha is going as the power bloc known as "uncommitted." From a quick survey about the room, Dean was not doing well. Again and again, it was the "electibility" issue.
It takes a strong personality to go through that. Because it is not a secret process, the quieter folks got steamrolled by those of us with an opinion.
Which is why I had a harder time during the "Resolutions" phase, in which the precinct captain read off a list of proposed resolutions that, depending upon how wide a topic they addressed, could be adopted by county, state, or national Democratic platforms. I had trouble with the language on many of them, especially the universal health care issues, and like most platforms they left completely unaddressed the issues of how their resolutions would be paid for, implemented or regulated.
I've never been anything but an Independent voter, but if being "a Democrat" is what it takes to restore the balance of power, then that's what I'll be until November.
Omaha and I went in and announced that, at least for the purposes of this event, we were Democrats. (I don't think either Republican or Democrat is the right label these days; now, the battle is between libertarians and communitarians.) We found our table and discovered that we were with a party of ten people from our precinct.
Then we discovered that there were six delegates in our precinct. Which meant that out of the party of ten, six of us would have to agree to go to the legislative caucus in May. The people around the table were a mix-- retirees, union workers, veterans, the local fire district commissioner, and one painfully earnest "vote my conscience, not my pragmatism" man. We joked about our local sewer district, so riddled with corruption that it seems like the keystone cops meets the mafia some days, and the Des Moines city council, which is just batshit insane.
Most of the people there were older. We were pretty young ourselves, Omaha and I, compared to a room full of The Democratic Faithful. We had compliments from others about how well-behaved Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan were.
The girls took a quiet corner and played in the coloring books. They were pretty good as we went through the process of picking candidates. I initially voted for Dean, but ultimately switched to Edwards, convincing another along the way until we had as many votes as Kerry. We were split-- two delegates for Kerry, two for Edwards, one for Dean, and one "uncommitted."
And it looks like Omaha and I will both be going to the Legislative Caucus as delegates. I'm going for Edwards (although I can change my vote for any reason at any time), and Omaha is going as the power bloc known as "uncommitted." From a quick survey about the room, Dean was not doing well. Again and again, it was the "electibility" issue.
It takes a strong personality to go through that. Because it is not a secret process, the quieter folks got steamrolled by those of us with an opinion.
Which is why I had a harder time during the "Resolutions" phase, in which the precinct captain read off a list of proposed resolutions that, depending upon how wide a topic they addressed, could be adopted by county, state, or national Democratic platforms. I had trouble with the language on many of them, especially the universal health care issues, and like most platforms they left completely unaddressed the issues of how their resolutions would be paid for, implemented or regulated.
I've never been anything but an Independent voter, but if being "a Democrat" is what it takes to restore the balance of power, then that's what I'll be until November.
