I caucused tonight in Iowa City (which was PACKED and buzzing by 6 PM). What struck me most tonight is that the Hillary and Obama crews were rock solid, while everyone else coalesced around Edwards.
- I caucused for Dodd. Or at least tried to. There were 4 of us, out of 350. Honestly, it was somewhat humiliating, although I was proud to support Dodd. This system is not kind to minority candidates. But, what can you do?
- Interestingly, during the initial stages, the 1st choice #s for Edwards were very weak, only about 33 or so out of 350+. Biden and Edwards were actually quite close in numbers. I find this fascinating. I feel for Biden, who likely was close to 10% in many places, but couldn't get to 15% viability, so technically ended up with nothing.
- And yes, there were hordes of young, first timers, registering-right-there supporters for Obama. Yes, this is a college town, but classes don't start again for two weeks. The beautiful people were energized and jazzed for Obama.
- Hillary's crew was loud, but small, mostly rank and file looking middle aged people, with a few young women (stress FEW).
- The initial Edwards people were OLD. Wheelchair old. Not sure what to make of this. Edwards actually lost 10-15 voters because their bus back to the Home came before the final vote. When the Dodd and Biden (bearded men) and Kuchinich people joined, it was quite the motley crew. I heard one of us say, "money can't buy Iowa".
- My precinct held 6 delegates, and ended up going 4- Obama, 1-Edwards, 1-Hillary, with Edwards' 2nd vote numerically a bit ahead of Hillary. Obama was actually around 3.5% delegates earned by the pure math, but picked up the extra half delegate on the remainders.
All in all it was an inspiring and exciting night, but also very very strange. I felt sad that I essentially lost my vote, but I guess the undue and mythical "influence" makes up for it.