Deromanticizing the caucus.

I think people who have never caucused have an image of a caucus that's similar to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...nope, more like Titanic without ice (at least here in Nevada).

The campaigns suggest walking with your neighbors to your caucus site where you will spend some time (they are careful not to say how MUCH time) having a robust political discussion, publicly casting your vote (sounds so brave) then cheering the candidates. Nope.

This was my Saturday. Drove to the location, which was much further away than my regular polling place. So did everyone else, by the look of the parking lot - it's 10:30am, an hour and a half before the caucus begins and the parking lot is full (probably because it's a middle school); I'm fine, I can walk, but the dozens of elderly people who come after I do struggle to make it to the school.

Because I'm a precinct captain I am told to skip the line to the check in, where (since I did express checkin the day before) I'm immediately handed my selection card and head to my room. There are a dozen or more precincts meeting in the school, but the rooms are well marked.

I meet the other captain and scope out the room. It's a gym, and there are two precincts meeting there. Because I'm early and have a big button, people ask me questions. You might think they might be questions about the process or the platform or the positions of the candidates...you would be wrong.

There's an elderly woman who is having trouble walking. Her daughter had brought her to caucus and, even though the daughter says time isn't a problem (the daughter isn't caucusing), she's worried. I tell her that it shouldn't be as long as in 2008, but probably a couple of hours.

The next women was just pissy about it. How long would it take? Why was this state so backwards? She hated the state, the city, and the neighborhood. They moved here for her husband's job, and would be leaving soon. I will hold back my tears when she goes.

One man came in, leaning heavily on a cane. He had never caucused, but thought it was a great idea...people, he thought, should have a chance to discuss and exchange ideas.

Another couple who could barely walk, and another "How long" and isn't there an arrangement for handicapped people (her words)? Nope. They are irritated when they discover that the line won't be closed until noon and insist they were told the caucus started at 11am. Others say they were told 11:30 and they aren't happy to discover they have another hour or more before the action begins. Everyone sits on bleachers meant for pre-teens. The guy who thought a caucus was a good idea got up several times because he was getting stiff sitting; he wasn't smiling any more.

They continue to flock in and almost to a person, they ask, "How lost will this last?" It's like being with dozens of kids on a cross county road trip.

Finally it's noon, but there are still about 50 people in line. We start at 12:30. The division of the precincts, the reading of the letters from all of the appropriate politicians - we get lucky, the two temporary chairs agree to take turns reading to the whole group rather than shouting at the same time. We divide up. I go with the chair to count heads. A teacher (wearing an NEA t-shirt) suggests that everyone stand, then sit as they are counted...it works.

We double check the numbers. I check with my group to make sure everyone has marked the ballots. One man nervously asks how much longer, he has a plane to catch.

We do the math, we divide the delegates. I go back to my group and find four other people willing to go to the county as delegates. It's over. No one has spoken for either candidate and no one cares. The process took about an hour and a half - much shorter than most precincts - but many of the older people have been here for three and an half hours, sitting on bleachers, no food or water, and they just want to go.

My caucus went incredibly smoothly; one friend said hers didn't even begin until 1:30 because things were so disorganized. She left before the delegates were elected because the woman she carpooled with was getting sick from standing and the crowds and the heat and no water. You've all see the horror stories on YouTube about some other sites.

To recap - no brilliant discussions. No friendly exchange of views. Just hundreds of tired people who want to leave.

I have three friends who are all very politically active that were out of town and couldn't participate. Nevadans who are not physically capable of making it to the caucus have no voice. Weekends are big business in Las Vegas, and service workers can't just take off for a few hours to caucus; yes, there are caucus sites on the Strip, but not everyone works on the Strip. Orthodox Jews and Seventh Day Adventists won't vote on a Saturday. People with children, students with Saturday classes, struggle to figure out a way to make it to the caucus and many fail. No one knows how many Democrats are disenfranchised, but do the mental math.

Rumor has it the Republicans plan to introduce a bill to change to a primary. A few whine that we would lose our very cool spot early in the process, but most of us don't care, we just want everyone to be able to participate.