Reply #21: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale [View All]

`Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.

I'm a 20 year old Clark support, new to Washington (Capitol Hill), and my experience at the caucus was unfortunately very discouraging.
At a local Clark meetup on February 2nd, I had been told by fellow supporters "Just go, it doesn't matter if you are new, unregistered, you can do everything there. To help even more, be prepared to speak!" With this in mind, I spent hours researching and defining my positions on why Clark is the best canidate. With considerable effort, I did finally manage to find where my caucus was being held.

`What is a Caucus-race?' said Alice;
`Why,' said the Dodo, `the best way to explain it is to do it.'


The small reserved room at the SAAM (Seattle Asian-Art Museum) was absolutely packed. My backpack, in which I carried my old laptop, carefully set up to track the delegates votes and to provide access to all of Clark's stances on the issues, did not go over very well (or more specifically, did not go through very well). My appearance was greeted with scowls. In a sea of older democrats, with the rare person my age (looking as confused as I was), I made my way to ask one of the few caucus managers where I could find what precinct I was in. I was informed that 2010 had one photocopied map, but it wasn't complete.

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.

I managed to make my way to their table and waited as others consulted it. When I finally got my chance, I found the map cut off a couple blocks before my street. Again I sought out the caucus manager, who was being accosted at the same time by two other young people with the same problem. She told us their was a number we could probably call, but that she had leant out her cell phone to someone else with the same problem. Getting desperate at this point, I decided to try my luck with the only person who had internet access in the building, the museum receptionist. She wouldn't let me use the computer, but tried to help my find the census precinct locator. She spent 10 minutes trying to find it, with me trying in vain to describe where I thought I saw the link. Finally, we gave up. I went back downstairs and asked the caucus manager if there was really no way I could find my precinct. She said that they did not have enough funding to provide maps of all the precinct locations "because they are so detailed". She then turned to inform an incoming woman that she could not participate, as it was past 10:30. At this point, I decided it was about time to start my trek back home.

Even though I don't feel like the extra time I spent preparing was completely wasted, I am very dissapointed I was unable to support my canidate, who really needs all the support he can get right now. It also leaves me very discouraged with the process. Is this the way representative democracy should be? The ones who know how to play the game get the vote?

I don't like criticizing volunteer organizations, so I'll only say that for those who are new to the "caucus-race", the already arduous task of sifting through the vast amount of media and information that making an informed decision about a canidate requires is overwhelming enough. If precincts are too complicated and expensive for the parties to compile, how can we expect those who are not politcally savvy to participate? A simple printout of all the precinct neighborhoods posted on the wall would of sufficed for me, and for at least a few others at this particular caucus.

However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out `The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, `But who has won?' This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, `Everybody has won, and all must have prizes.'

On a brighter note, it gives me great hope to see so many democrats participating (I was told it was 3 times more than expected).I just wish I could of been one of them ;)