This is my first diary on Kos, so bear with me.
I live in Austin, Texas and vote in Precinct 397.
I'm a first time voter, and in this election, I dove head-first into the process. I voted early, and did a lot of research on how the caucusing process works, so when I arrived at the elementary school where they held the precinct convention I was completely confused. No one there apparently knew what they were doing. The lines moved extremely slowly. After waiting in line to sign in, I caucused for Barack Obama then put my name on the sign up sheet to be a delegate.Since I had nothing else to do I offered to help move chairs. Soon I found myself taking a more active role in the process.
(More below the fold)
After moving those chairs and tables I ended up behind them, signing people in. With more people working behind the desks, the lines began moving faster. We had over 150 people show up. When everyone was signed in, we began the actual discussion. First there was the business of electing a permanent precinct chair, and a permanent secretary. Once the votes were tallied, Obama had 8 delegates while Clinton got 4. Just enough people stayed after for everyone to be either a delegate or an alternate. I'm proud to say that I'm now a delegate for Barack Obama.
We went through all the resolutions: Impeaching Bush/Cheney, Impeaching Governor Rick Perry, pensions, abolition of the death penalty, etc. We beat back abstinence-only education and several other resolutions that some wingnuts managed to sneak in to the stack. We voted for our delegate chair, and he gave a short yet inspiring speech. I left the meeting feeling prouder than I've ever felt to be an American.
I've checked some of the other diaries on this subject, but I'm not tired out from the process. To me the caucus feels invigorating. The primary was almost disappointingly anticlimactic, while the caucus gave me a chance to meet other Democrats and discuss politics. There was no rift between Obama and Clinton supporters - we were all working toward a common interest: to keep John McCain out of the White House. I went from nervous first-time caucus-goer to feeling like a welcome member of a cohesive community in one night, and I believe that's what the Democratic Party should be about.
Look for more diaries after the county caucuses.