It seems like an age ago, but the Iowa caucuses are only three months behind us. That night was a powder-keg of excitement; schools and union halls and any public building available were packed to the gills (at least on the Democratic side) with enthusiastic supporters. And honestly, that night, I thought Hillary's goose was cooked. But, as the excitement of that event has died away, so has the mass enthusiasm of the primary cycle in general. We have ground to a slow churn, a boring and predictable series of events that make us remember how shockingly dull democracy can be. And those are the very same words I would use to describe the Johnson County Democratic Convention, held yesterday, at a local high school.
At my caucus (Iowa City 22) Hillary wasn't even viable in the first round of balloting because the threshold was extremely high. After an alignment, she had slightly more than the number of people needed to receive a delegate from the precinct. Any yet, the Obama group was by far the largest. Our final count was high, and it was clear that we would convincingly win the precinct. This scene repeated itself over and over again in Iowa City and elsewhere in the state, and at that time I believed nothing could stop us. It was a time of great excitement.
Now, don't get me wrong: I still think Obama will be the eventual nominee. And hopefully the base attacks of the Clinton campaign will leave our candidate in an even better position to stand against whatever the GOP and their evil minions have to toss at Barack. But right now we are in a rut, awaiting the seemingly unreachable primary in the great state of Pennsylvania. This holding pattern is boring, and this turn of events resembles my personal experience at the County convention yesterday.
I showed up for registration at about 8:30am, and found my name on the alternate list for the Obama delegates. I was confident that I would be seated as a delegate, because it is almost unheard of for all of the actual caucus delegates to show up. But this time it was different. Tons of people showed. So many showed for the Obama camp, that is was unclear whether the alternates would be seated. But, as the morning dragged on some people left, some people had other things to do that day, or they just plain forgot to come(?!?!), or whatever. Eventually I was seated as an Obama delegate. I should mention at this point that although I walked in the door at 8:30, I wasn't seated as a delegate, and the counts were not certified, until almost 1pm (or thereabouts). During that time we voted on the Convention positions, listened to speeches by various local officials, and milled about, stuck in a high school on one of the first truly beautiful days after a long, hard winter.
In the end, the Obama camp had 180 some delegates there, while Edwards had 73 and Clinton 70. I know that in some areas of the state the Edwards people joined the Obama camp, resulting in a gain of delegates to the eventual National Convention, but in Johnson County they stayed put. They were viable, and they had the opportunity to send 30ish delegates to the District and State conventions. I respect that. They are sticking to their guy (my second choice), and they have that right.
I signed myself up to be an alternate to the District and State conventions, and I hope I get called. I'd like to see this process through to the highest levels I can reach. And frankly, I'm glad we have this archaic system. It is actually a way for me to participate directly in local Democratic politics beyond voting on election day, and I respect that. I had the chance to propose platform amendments (which I didn't), and I voted on proposed changes to the Johnson County Democratic Party Constitution. But all in all, it was tedious, hot, and boring.
I'm glad I participated, but I'm equally glad it's something that only happens once every 2 years.