Since I posted a
diary entry about my mother-in-law and her confusion about who to vote for in the Iowa caucus, I thought I'd post a follow-up.
I sent her a long e-mail with a pitch for Dean and my fairly evenhanded take on all of the candidates. It also included a link to the original diary entry with pitches for Dean.
She ended up caucusing for Dean almost inadvertently.
She went to her caucus at an elementary school in Iowa City. There were three times as many people in the room as it was supposed to hold. There were so many people that it was hard to remain in groups because they were packed in next to each other.
Despite my pitch, she had decided to support Kucinich (maybe because I described him as the only real liberal in the race, but also because she's a Quaker who's strongly anti-war). But when it came time to break into groups, she could not make her way across the room to the Kucinich group because it was so packed. Meanwhile, the Dean people were meeting in her corner. So she stayed where she was and ended up getting counted for Dean, who ended up with delegates. Who knows if it even affected the delegate count, but I found it to be a minor but funny counterpoint to a pretty down night for Dean supporters.
Crazy.
Heavy turnout is good, though. I think it shows that if people think they can make a difference in crushing Bush, they will. I think Iowa will vote for the Democratic nominee in the fall.
And anyway, Washington's caucus is on February 7. I'm still voting for Dean. Hang in there, Deaniacs.