I've always lived in states where presidential nominees were determined by a vote in that state's party primary. This year, that changes.
Washington has a rather complex nomination system. On February 19th, there is a party primary election. But, the real action is ten days earlier at each party's caucuses.
I've already mailed in my party primary ballot. (We vote by mail here. Only two counties still have polling places on Election Day.) But since I'm a Democrat, that vote is symbolic. None of the party's delegates will be determined using the results of the primary election. They will all be selected by virtue of the caucus.
On the Republican side, 51 percent of the state's party delegates are determined by the caucus. The other 49 percent will be assigned based on the outcome of the primary. (In essence, this sets up a scenario where a Republican can support two different candidates. Someone could vote for McCain, but caucus for Huckabee.)
So, on Saturday, February 9th, I get to head to a local elementary school and voice my support for the candidate of my choice. With only three candidates still actively running, the arm twisting might not be as heavy as what was seen in Iowa. (And I doubt there will be many Mike Gravel supporters.) There is still a strong Dennis Kucinich movement here despite his dropping out of the race. I anticipate seeing a few of his supporters there.
Also, look for Ron Paul to do very well in this state -- especially in Puget Sound. Not saying he'll win, but his signs are everywhere in an historically dark blue part of the country. He'll probably garner strong support at the caucuses, but not draw significant votes in the primary.
I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to it. Not only for opportunity to have a voice in the political process, but to meet my precinct neighbors as well.
That sounds like an interesting day ahead. Like you, I've always lived in primary states, so I have no idea what a caucus is like.
Well, that was an interesting experience.
I arrived at my precinct location at about 12:30 and was directed to the school's "multi-purpose room." There were 6 or 7 different precincts caucusing at this location. I was pointed in the direction of a table where my precinct would be meeting.
At 1 pm, the gavel sounded. We said the Pledge of Allegience and were given a 30 miunte warning to sign in. The sign in sheet was essentially a straw poll. It asked for my basic information and which candidate I was caucusing for.
When 1:30 arrived there were 51 people at my precinct table. (I overheard someone say they only had 9 for the 2004 caucus.) Among all of the precincts, there were probably 400-450 people in the room. Some precincts were relocated to classrooms in order to ease the crowded situation in the main hall.
The precinct chairman tallied the votes from the straw poll and posted the results. (33 for Obama, 13 for Clinton, 5 Uncommitted.) He then posted how that would apportion our precinct's 5 delegates. (3,1,1, respectively.)
Then, it was time for the arm twisting. Everyone was given an opportunity to speak for their candidate in an effort to get the uncommitteds to a side or to get the committeds to change their side. It was a spirited discussion with both sides making very passionate and eloquant arguments.
After about 45 minutes of back and forth, the chair called and end to the discussion and asked anyone who would like to change their commitment to notate it on the sign in sheet. Three of the uncommitteds had been swayed. None of the people with a candidate commitment at the start had changed their mind.
Then the final tally: 34 Obama, 15 Clinton, 2 uncommitted. Our precincts delegates were apportioned 3 for Obama, 2 for Clinton.
After the tally, each side broke into a subcaucus to select delegates for the county convention in April. After that, there was a request for donations to pay to the caucus and the meeting was adjourned.
In all the process took about two hours and was really eye-opening. It was grass-roots politicking in its truest form and something I found refreshing after all of the television campaigning.
Who were the candidate representatives? I mean, who spoke for each of the candidates?
Quote from: mustang sally on February 13, 2008, 01:35:36 PM
Who were the candidate representatives? I mean, who spoke for each of the candidates?
There were no "official" candidate representatives. Each participant was allowed to speak as to why they were caucusing for a particular candidate. In addition, the uncommitted voters were allowed to speak as to why they had not made a decision and questions they needed answered before they felt comfortable making a commitment.