If one’s only experience in the Democratic presidential primary so far had been a visit to today’s caucus in my little corner of SW Washington state, one would never know about the outrageous amount of animosity that exists online. It was like I had walked into a different world. And of course, I had. I had walked into the real world.
I was a precinct captain for Hillary. We lost my precinct, and wound up with 1 delegate to Bernie’s 4. About what I expected, and I think most of the precincts in the room went about the same. But the real story out of this caucus precinct was not about delegate count. It was about people. Neighbors, coming together to fight for all of us.
My first surprise was when a young man about college age came over to me, proudly displaying his Bernie badge. He asked if I had a preference, and I told him I was there to support Hillary. (I don’t have a badge, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to caucus.) I expected the usual attack lines we see too often here at dkos - corporate sellout, hawk, no different from a Republican, etc. etc. You can imagine my surprise when the young man said to me “Yes, I understand. Hillary has been a very hardworking Democrat. She’s gotten a lot done for us under difficult circumstances. I will be happy to work for her if she wins the nomination.” Whaaat? “That’s not what I hear!” I thought to myself. I told him that I would also be very happy to work for Bernie should he get the nomination. We chatted a few minutes about how to get the Republicans who run our county out of their positions, before they called us to order.
On to find my own precinct. My heart sank a little when I saw a table full of Bernie buttons smiling up at me.
“This is it,” I thought to myself. “Now I’m really going to hear it.” The young woman next to me started a conversation. I was nervous. She asked me a little about myself, what area I lived in, what my job was, did I have children, the usual pleasantries. Eventually we got around to candidate support. “I am here to support Hillary” I said quietly. “Oh!” she said brightly. “My mom’s a big Hillary supporter, too. I like a lot of things about Hillary, but I feel so inspired and motivated by Bernie.” I exhaled. “Whomever wins,” she said, “we will have a great candidate, especially compared to those Republicans!” How right she is.
We did the first vote, and then one by one, people started speaking at the mic, to all 12 precincts. The site chair alternated speakers for the candidates, an equal number of speakers for each. I spoke for Hillary, and I talked about my own comparison of their health care platforms. Other of Hillary’s supporters spoke about her experience, her relationships with leaders around the world, her history of digging in and working in spite of the roadblocks and the setbacks. Bernie supporters also spoke — about his longtime commitment to progressive goals, about his work in congress, about his ability to inspire, about his vote against AUMF. The most eloquent speaker for either candidate was a young ecologist, who almost convinced me to change my vote to Bernie. Almost.
Only one person tried to attack Hillary with negatives, and he was shut down by the room. The same thing happened when the young son of Chinese immigrants talked about his fear of a communist revolution with Bernie. Shut down by the room. But other than those two, one after the other after the other talked about both candidates with praise and respect. People said how willing they were to canvas and make calls for BOTH candidates. How important it is to stop Donald Trump.
Whether it’s Hillary or Bernie, there is no doubt in my mind now, we are Democrats, and will win.
One last thing — a big thank you to the Washington Democrats for all the work they did to make this caucus happen. Caucuses are paid for with donations to the party, and manned by Democratic Party volunteers. I’m grateful to each and every one of you, for the work you did today.
Namaste
(and a tip of my hat to Paul, a Bernie-supporting yoga instructor I met at the caucus today.)