Democracy at work—and democracy without the smirk—were both there to behold election night at the Eagle County Precinct 7 caucus of which yours truly chose to exercise the rites and rights of citizenship.
When we arrived there was a long line leading up to the sign-up table where we Eagle County orphans, cut off from our brethren by the small matter of mountains, nonetheless lined up in reasonable order on a cold night to dictate the course of democracy, at least in our small corner of Colorado. The Republicans, the lost souls of our republic, got there first, and I couldn’t help but peak in to see how the recalcitrant elephants were doing at the El Jebel Community Center where their confab was already under way.
It wasn’t pretty, my friends, as John McCain would say. While hundreds of us Democrats hob-nobbed in the hallways and byways in El Jebel, there were 22 lonely Republicans in all—I counted every single one the way I learned as a cub reporter—in clusters small enough to break your heart without making you think about switching parties.
On the Democratic side, life was good. The architect Harry Teague was there, and Basalt Town Councilor Laurie Dows, and Laura Thielen of Filmfelt, and Cristal Logan of the Aspen Institute, and Anderson Ranch poobah Hunter O’Hanian, and Lou Wells or the Rocky Mountain Institute—and more plain folk than you could shake a chad at. There were four precincts in all up for grabs and ours was the biggest but not the loudest. Precinct 8 was right behind us and I could hear them extolling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama even better than those in my own precinct, though the arguments were much the same.
It was a messy, Kumbaya donkey fest. At first, nobody really knew what a caucus was supposed to be until a child of the Sixties named Harvey appeared in tie-die to tell us there was a straw poll and a real poll and in between we were supposed to convince each other of the relative merits of Hillary and Barack. We raised our hands instead of straw and up came Obama leading Clinton something like 66 to 22. Since there was no John Edwards and a clear majority there wasn’t all that much to talk about. We almost proceeded to the real vote before we figured out that we had to caucus, whatever that was, or the verb, if not the noun, would go wanting on caucus night.
Hands were raised. Opinions were opined. Passion was palpable. A young man in khakis, some kind of political operative, was smart enough to put himself in charge of the count.
For all that the vote of the one undecided, Lou Wells, went to Obama in the end.
But that was not nearly all. Obama and Clinton delegates had to be chosen for the Eagle County convention, which would choose the delegates to the Colorado state convention, which would choose the delegates to the home-field Democratic National Convention in summer 2008 in Denver.
The caucusing was going to start all over again with the Senate and Congressional races. The night was growing late quickly for those with a morning radio show to do, and I felt my duty as a citizen of the greatest republic in the world had been dispatched with brio. Let the masses select our Senatorial and Congressional candidates. I had caucused for President, and it was in the books. Democracy is a wonderful thing, especially in small doses.
There was no messy democracy going on at the High School in Carbondale last night. In fact it could’ve been categorized as the caucus that wasn’t. Eighty two Republicans showed up and quickly opted to dispatch with the formalities and get right to the vote. Apparently everyone had their mind already made up. I know I did.
The results;
Huckabee; 6
Paul; 13
McCain; 25
Romney; 38
Even though my guy came in third, I was actually more disappointed with the process, or lack of it, than the results. Well, maybe I will get to satisfy my craving for the political process as a delegate at the County Assembly in March.
Below are the results from the El Jebel Democratic Caucus for precincts 7,8,24,25:
Obama 142 Clinton 46
Udall 97 Benner 26 Uncommitted 22
Shafroth 54 Polis 25 Fitz-Gerald 24 Undecided 24
I attended the Republican caucus south of Glenwood Springs, which handled four precincts. It was similar to what Reckless G reports, although the “formalities” were adhered to somewhat more. The overwhelming majority went for Mit Romney but Ron Paul came within a couple votes of overtaking McWhatshisname from Arizona for second place.
What I noticed most about the crowd in attendance was the median age. I consider myself to be a young and spry 55 (a side effect of single parentdom) but found most there to be my senior by a decade or more. Is this a Republican party thing or is this an apathy thing among the younger segment of our population?
It’s curious to me that Obama has so much support. Objectively, he is a one-term senator, with absolutely no experience, who has never even sponsored a bill. In contrast, Hillary is at least a candidate who knows her way around Washington and has enough experience to make credible claims to the Presidency.
Even though I understand the appeal of a new, well-spoken face in Obama, is a promise of “change” enought to elect a President? Undoubtedly, most “change” in our lives has been for the worse. Otherwise, why would we all lament the “loss of the old Aspen,” and why would we spend so much time talking about “the good old days.” Be careful what you wish for!
Finally, Obama’s supporters frequently compare him to President Kennedy. However, if he hadn’t been shot, JFK would have been remembered as a terrible, inexperienced President who almost got us all killed. Do you remember the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile crisis, and God-knows what happened to Marilyn Monroe? If that’s Camelot, you can keep it!
Let’s pick a few candidates with some substance. Democrat or Republican, it would be nice to have a President who can actually do the job. Our current President has stumbled. Let’s try not to choose someone who will “crash and burn” the next time around.
Notice that conservative commentators keep attacking Hillary and semi-siding with Obama, while preparing their right-wing base for an eventual McCain nomination. Clearly the strategy here is to influence the primaries so that in the end you’ll have an Obama vs. McCain presidential campaign. And then they’ll go full force against Obama who they perceive as an easier target than Hillary. Assuming he wins the nomination look for particular emphasis on his inexperience, past drug use, his “Liberal”(like if that was bad) positions on every issue, and I even dare to predict that they will attempt to exploit peoples’ prejudice and fears by using dirty tactics such as repeatedly making implications in reference to Obama’s middle name “Hussein” and his supposedly black separatist church.
Barack Obama is the most progressive of the possible nominees and has received less money from special interest groups, his most obvious and powerful distinction between his opponents on both sides of the political spectrum is that he has always spoken out against the most disastrous American foreign policy decision since Vietnam, the war in Irak
To Alex: I would like to point out that Ron Paul’s campaign has been financed by tens of thousands of personal donations, mostly via the internet. To my knowledge, Dr. Paul has accepted $0 from special interest groups….
Probably a combination of his reluctance to accept them and their reluctance to offer them.
Some thoughts on Mit Romney withdrawing from the race;
It just seems like a colossal waste of time to participate in a caucus, only to have the most popular candidate (according to the vote tally) drop out two days later. Romney’s withdrawal virtually voided Colorado’s (and Utah’s) caucus.
Maybe we should be able to vote for our first and second choice. Then if the first drops out, our votes go to the second. If this were the case, perhaps my guy; Ron Paul would have garnered some second place votes. It wouldn’t have won him the state, but it sure would’ve helped his credibility and allowed more opportunity for his message to be heard.
To: Andy
Good point Andy, yet I think it`s obvious that Ron Paul is not a possible nominee.
Best regards.
I’m just beginning to warm to the idea that Senator Obama just may win the nomination — that the house of Clinton may be on its way to irrelevance.
Every speech I hear from Obama convinces me even more that he’s got the mojo to pull this off. The Potomac primaries look to fall his way and the Wyoming, Texas and Ohio primaries are no longer looking like a Clinton firewall? I think we’ve been so long in the desert that what’s unfolding appears just short of miraculous.
I have to confess, I’ve never liked Hillary. I couldn’t pull the lever for her if my life depended on it. When she arrived in NY — my home — I thought this turns carpetbagging on its head, but it reeks of opportunism all the same and leads to a simple query: Would she even be on a ballot she weren’t a Clinton, and a jilted one at that?
What sudden love of NY did she discover? This is “All About Eve” all over again. But I’m just beginning to see something quite satisfying, she’s going have to love NY because it deserves it, not because it can be useful to her.