Last night we caucused in Colorado.
Our caucus location for our House District is a local high school. In the past, all forty precincts met around tables in the cafeteria. During the last presidential cycle a total of 174 people participated and it was slightly chaotic yet energizing to have all those conversations and votes happening at the same time.
Last night? Well, 1,570 Democrats showed up to caucus at the high school. It was full-on craziness.
Especially so in my precinct. In the last two election cycles about ten people from my precinct came to caucus, and those were considered decent turnouts. Last night, 76 people from my precinct showed up!
I was the precinct committee person and it was up to me to run the show. Yikes. Fortunately, we’d been assigned a classroom but even so, all the desks were taken and people sat on the floor and stood along the walls. It was rather intimidating looking out at all those expectant faces, knowing how much we were expected to accomplish in the next two hours. But with the help of Zippy acting as secretary and several kind people who told me throughout the evening that I was doing a fine job, we made it through.
(A big thank-you to![[info]](https://i0.wp.com/stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
sarah_create for sending good thoughts my way. I’d confessed to her that lately my voice wavers when I’m speaking in front of a group, mostly because I get over-excited and forget to breathe. And yes, it wavered a little last night but I calmed down and got through everything that needed to be done. Breathing is so important!)
So here’s how it broke down in our group: During the non-binding straw poll, Zippy and I voted for Edwards and one woman voted for Gravel. The rest were for Clinton and Obama, with Obama getting about seven more votes. Then people gave short little speeches about why they supported their candidates and then we voted the official, binding vote. Obama got 48 votes (including Zippy’s and mine since our two votes weren’t enough to make Edwards viable) and Clinton got 28. It was pretty interesting how votes shifted the second time around.
I was thrilled so many people were there to participate but was less thrilled when people started filing out of the room as we voted for delegates to our county convention. It does not bode well when people are passionate about a candidate for an hour but balk at the idea of spending a day as a delegate for that candidate. However, we eventually ended up with enough delegates and a handful of alternates so we should be covered.
Another item on the caucus agenda is electing precinct committee people. Each precinct should have two (ours had just me) and I told the remaining people I’d be happy to continue serving but that in all honesty, I didn’t have a burning enthusiasm for either candidate so maybe there were people in the room who wanted to step up and organize for their candidates. And two people did just that! So I’m no longer serving as the very bottom grassroots rung in the Democratic party, and part of me is a little sad but mostly I’m glad to be rid of that pressure. Something tells me when it comes down to organizing against McCain, I’ll be there on the front lines anyway.
But for right now, I’m very happy the caucus is over and that I did right by my precinct.
Tracy Abell 
Wow, you were the committee person? I admire you for that. I watched our committee people last night and kept thinking, yikes, I wouldn’t want that job. They were awesome though. I’m sure you were too.
We had 105 people, just from our precinct, packed in an elementary school classroom and it gave me such a high, I felt like we should all sing or something! But we didn’t. Mike and I brought our kids and stayed until the bitter end. Several folks wanted to be delegates for Obama, including Mike. He ended up stepping down and taking the Alternate spot.
Hat’s off to you, Tracy, for your involvement.
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105???? That’s incredible! Good for you both going and taking the kids. Mine didn’t want to go but we had other kids there including one teen who really wanted to vote for Obama but wasn’t old enough yet.
Congrats to Mike on being an Alternate. Alternates are usually credentialed and seated (in Jeffco, amyway) so he should have a good experience.
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It *is* a high, isn’t it, to participate in the democratic process? I admire you and your family for being so involved.
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Wow, you were the committee person? I admire you for that. I watched our committee people last night and kept thinking, yikes, I wouldn’t want that job. They were awesome though. I’m sure you were too.
We had 105 people, just from our precinct, packed in an elementary school classroom and it gave me such a high, I felt like we should all sing or something! But we didn’t. Mike and I brought our kids and stayed until the bitter end. Several folks wanted to be delegates for Obama, including Mike. He ended up stepping down and taking the Alternate spot.
Hat’s off to you, Tracy, for your involvement.
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105???? That’s incredible! Good for you both going and taking the kids. Mine didn’t want to go but we had other kids there including one teen who really wanted to vote for Obama but wasn’t old enough yet.
Congrats to Mike on being an Alternate. Alternates are usually credentialed and seated (in Jeffco, amyway) so he should have a good experience.
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Wow, Tracy! I’m so impressed!
I know you weren’t all that jazzed about the alternatives; that makes your story all the more inspiring. You used your voice to help make a difference (deep breaths…deep breaths), and you encouraged others to do the same. Yay!!!
My hat’s off to you. All I did was fill in a few Scantron bubbles, stuff and seal the envelope, and drop my ballot off at the post office.
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I was impressed with myself, too. Mostly because I kept my head and made good decisions about how to proceed which isn’t always the case when I’m stressed and on the spot. I did forget to conduct a vote for our senatorial candidates but I consider that a Freudian slip since I don’t really want to have to cast that vote. 🙂 We ended up doing the vote later in the evening even though a bunch of people left. Ah well.
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Wow, Tracy! I’m so impressed!
I know you weren’t all that jazzed about the alternatives; that makes your story all the more inspiring. You used your voice to help make a difference (deep breaths…deep breaths), and you encouraged others to do the same. Yay!!!
My hat’s off to you. All I did was fill in a few Scantron bubbles, stuff and seal the envelope, and drop my ballot off at the post office.
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you are a brave woman!
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Hear me roar!
🙂
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Hear me roar!
🙂
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I’m glad it went well for you. I’m impressed with your commitment and willingness to help make the political process work.
I hope we get a good president.
My state doesn’t have its primary until May.
The state has gone to 100% mail in ballots.
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Thank you again for sending those good thoughts my way. I really did think of you as I paused to pull myself together.
I’m leery of mail-in ballots since there’s no oversight. When I’ve voted by mail ballots, I hand deliver them to the counter in my county clerk’s office. I worked very, very hard on the verifiable voting issue in 2004 and am thrilled that Colorado might possibly vote on paper ballots in November.
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I’m glad it went well for you. I’m impressed with your commitment and willingness to help make the political process work.
I hope we get a good president.
My state doesn’t have its primary until May.
The state has gone to 100% mail in ballots.
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This was so interesting because it was like reading about a foreign country. In the land of NJ where I reside, you walk into a little booth behind a black privacy curtain and push a button. Nobody says nuthin. Except I thought I might have heard the whisper of “Obama 08” in the air.
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Nope, in Colorado it’s all about the rabble and the chaos. It’s actually rather fun once you get rolling.
Glad you heard that whisper, Linda. It was more of a shout in these parts!
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I’m impressed! I’m registered as an Independent, which means there’s not a lot I can do at this stage…reading about all your work almost makes me glad about that, I have to admit. But at the same time, I’m excited to hear about your commitment, your passion — and your willingness to put up with the less-than-lovely aspects of the process. You inspire me, Tracy!
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There are definitely less-than-lovely aspects but that’s what democracy looks like. I was so very happy to see all those people in that one little room.
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Congratulations on doing a thankless job. I have attended many precinct meetings in my life time. Have been to County Convention also. Once was a delegate to State Convention. Was a blast and I learned a lot of things. Our vote is coming up in a month. Will be glad when it’s over.
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I was a delegate all the way to the state convention before, too, and I agree that it was a blast and great learning experience. I encouraged the folks last night to go for it and see what it was like. Some signed up as delegates and I hope they have a great time…the way we did.
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Nope, in Colorado it’s all about the rabble and the chaos. It’s actually rather fun once you get rolling.
Glad you heard that whisper, Linda. It was more of a shout in these parts!
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Oh good for you, Tracy. We just pop something in the mail, and well, that’s it. But not until May…
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I don’t like mail ballots because there’s no oversight but also because you don’t have the community feel. I do, however, like the fact that they provide a paper trail. I hand deliver my mail ballots to the county clerk’s office so I know it makes it there. We might vote on paper ballots in Colorado this year and I’m very happy about that!
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Yeah, Tracy! I dropped my vote off last night at our local caucus. There was a snowstorm and the organizers were expecting four to five hundred people, but 1,100 turned up — all with fogged glasses and wet parkas. Exciting stuff.
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That’s an excellent turn-out for a snowstorm!!! We had our storm Monday night so it wasn’t as tough for us. Very cold and slick in places, but no falling white stuff.
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Thank you again for sending those good thoughts my way. I really did think of you as I paused to pull myself together.
I’m leery of mail-in ballots since there’s no oversight. When I’ve voted by mail ballots, I hand deliver them to the counter in my county clerk’s office. I worked very, very hard on the verifiable voting issue in 2004 and am thrilled that Colorado might possibly vote on paper ballots in November.
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