Earlier today I attended my first caucus. Here in the 29th legislative district of the state of Washington, I cast my first in-person ballot. And I loved it. Before today I had only voted absentee. This was my first chance to vote in person, and it was wonderful. To be honest, I had my doubts about the caucus system, but I loved it. There are certainly weaknesses with caucuses, but the chance for discussion is important. I honestly feel that caucuses are an excellent way for a party to pick it's nominee.
First, let me describe my own experience. My legislative district held all of it's caucuses in one location. The district chair expected somewhere around 600 hundred people to show up (double the number who came in 2004). In reality, there where over 1,000 people in attendance. It was huge, with standing room only.
My precinct was unique, in an unfortunate way, because we only had 6 people. Because our precinct warranted 6 delegates, that meant that each of us could go to the county caucus. While I wish more people had showed up, I have to be honest and say that it was nice to know that I was going to be a delegate from the beginning. Interestingly enough, no one in my precinct had attended a caucus before, and since I had researched the process beforehand, I ended up being the one most knowledgeable about the process of selecting delegates. Because of that, I was elected precinct chair.
From the beginning, the precinct was split down the middle, 3 for Obama and 3 for Clinton, with one absentee ballot for Obama. Everyone attending for my precinct was very committed to their choice, and no one changed positions, but the discussion that ensued was priceless. Because of the relatively small numbers, we felt comfortable simply discussing the candidates. Both sides presented their opinions, with the other side responding. The consensus was that we were all democrats and that the most important thing was to defeat the republicans in November. I was so proud to be a part of such a civilized, adult discussion about who should lead our nation.
Before I go any further, a note about the make up of my precinct attendees. We had four Caucasian members, with one Hispanic couple. There were two men and four women. Both the men and the women voted exactly 50/50. I was proud to see that neither race nor gender seemed to be issues. It was inspiring to see that we all basically agreed.
As I've mentioned, while the LD as a whole had incredibly large turn out, our precinct didn't have a great showing. As a result, everyone who came will serve as a delegate at the next level. If one less person had come, one of the candidates would have lost a delegate. That shows that it's important to go. There is no way to know how important your vote might be, especially at the primary level.