Short version. 11 showed up for a precinct with 5 delegates for Bernie, including me, going to the next level. None for Hillary. The vote started at 10-1 Bernie, ended 11-0 Bernie.
My precinct skews older. Of those who showed, a few were 60+, a couple 30-. I would guess the average age was 50+, with the youngest registering for the first time at the caucus. Many precincts were sharing the same gymnasium and from comments overheard, overall attendance was notably up from the past. A couple people showed up for our precinct, where they live now, while their registered address was where they had moved from recently. But their registered precincts were meeting at the same gym, so they went and found their meeting, leaving us with 11. Well at first there was also a young lady, but she didn’t stay as she wasn’t going to turn 18 until next March. But it was a nice try.
After the initial vote we moved to discussion with Hillary’s advocate speaking first. Several of us then responded. Then there was an amicable back and forth, question and answer, with everyone listening well. Hillary’s supporter heard a lot she apparently did not know and became less concerned about Bernie’s foreign policy credentials. Near the end when asked of her remaining concerns what was the greatest, she said even though she liked his policies, she was concerned about Bernie’s ability to get things done.
At the end of discussion the chair asked if anyone had changed their mind and Hillary’s supporter said yes. When asked what did it, she said, to paraphrase, it was when someone suggested that she not look at it as what he was going to do, but what she, as a citizen and voter, was going to do. She said that made sense to her rather than laying it on him for how things are now.
All that was left was to pick Bernie’s delegates, and with so few attendees it was more of a volunteer than a vote. My hand and another went up first, and some said they were not going to be in the area for the next level. Looking around another 2 decided they better step up. And then the chair decided if no one else was going to be the 5th, she would. So we recorded everything and handed it in, made a list of e-mail addresses so we could coordinate going forward, and I think we were the first precinct to leave. It all took a bit over an hour.
Eleven people decided all 5 delegates for their entire precinct. If you want your vote to count extra extra, attend your caucus if you have one! A primary seems more fair, but personally I’m more involved now because of the caucus.
