Turonout to caucuses was unbelievable.
USA Today noted that Minnesota had the highest turnout since the Vietnam era. I was running around speaking on behalf of State Representative candidate
Dorian Eder so I got to see this in action in several precincts in Northeast Minneapolis. Let me tell you something, friends... the Republicans can talk all they want about Minnesota being a swing state, but there is no way they can beat this energy. This isn't some abstract internet theory - this is people who actually took the time to go to their caucuses, and they are really fired up.
I had a really nice speech prepared for the crowds of 15-20 I was expecting in each precinct and had to totally ditch that speech to give these crowds of 100-150 the red meat they wanted. People cheered, people got really into the process. It was fantastic.
Maybe the most exciting thing about this was the number of people I spotted who I know were Green Party activists in the past who came back to check things out. They proposed resolutions for the party platform and had really great debates, most of which ended up with the resolutions being adopted and sent up the chain for consideration. I hope that the cheers and warm reception from their DFL caucuses will keep them active - the people I talked to were seriously enthusiastic about the process, and about the energy. I've been saying all along that forming a new party wasn't the answer - that we could take over the existing party if we stayed engaged - a lot of people saw that last night.
It was unfortunate that in several precincts somebody showed up late and announced that the radio was reporting that Edwards was dropping out (Edwards carried our district anyway, so maybe not that big a deal). The amazing thing to me is that nobody left, even though Kerry was not popular in our districts. All of these people, most of them first time caucus-goers found something affirming in realizing there were so many people from their neighborhood who cared about the same issues they did. They proposed resolutions ranging from condemning the doctrine of preemptive war, to fixing the timing for the stoplight at Central and Spring Street. It was really, really, charming and meaningful, and I wish all of you from primary states who bash the caucuses could have been there. This was real democracy in action.
Rest easy when you hear the Republicans talking about Minnesota going red. It's a strategy to get gullible wealthy Minnesotans to give them money. There's not a snowball's chance in hell if last night is any indication.