So last night we had party caucuses in Missouri...
(Yes, I know we had our primary a while ago. The caucus is a separate action in which we actually choose our delegates.)
Our urban ward’s organizer was shocked at the turnout; she hasn’t had anyone caucus in our ward since 1992. I’m given to understand that most years, the caucus is a non-event because by the time the caucus occurs, a clear Democratic candidate is already apparent.
Last night, 8 people caucused in my ward (including the organizer). Seven people were supporting Obama, one was supporting Clinton. We have 2 delegates for Obama. One is a former candidate for mayor, and a wonderful gentleman who’s currently speaking at lots of high schools and smaller colleges about the importance of voting. The other is a lawyer who wants to make sure the applicable party rules are followed in Jefferson City and Denver. We also have an alternate delegate for Obama (our ward organizer). None of the rest of us wanted to be delegates, due to conflicting commitments on the specific dates needed. (I’m not sure what happened with the supporter for Clinton, whether he’s a delegate or not.)
I’ve never caucused before in my life. I would never have known about this process and gathering without a reminder email from an acquaintance (a former elected official). It was a good opportunity to get to meet some neighbors I’d never met before, and talk about some of the upcoming development in the neighborhood.
Better yet, because of a last-minute reminder to a friend of mine, he turned out for his ward’s caucus; and he’s now a delegate for Obama and chairman of his ward’s caucus. He had lower turnout, though.
So the bad news is, it appears the Democratic party in Missouri has a long way to go toward contacting Democratic voters and reminding them of the ward-by-ward caucuses, and the importance of participating in the them. The good (and bad) news is that if you live in Missouri and voted in the primary, you may have very little competition if you want to be a delegate.
The great news is that we had turnout! And that it was clearly, largely in support of one candidate, the candidate that I believe can win the general election in Missouri.
I realize this is very short diary, in terms of substance and detail; please forgive me.