Caucus night: the other side

This morning I browsed the Des Moines Register, just as on most any other morning. Today, though, a couple of letters to the editor appeared that actually offered something I could relate to!

A woman named Stephanie from down by the Des Moines area shared her experiences, which can be compared and possibly contrasted to what I experienced and described in my previous post.

Stephanie writes:

I attended a Democratic caucus Thursday night. There was little room for everyone, which was very unpleasant, even after moving to a larger room. It was pretty chaotic. For the most part, folks were good-spirited and kind. However, when it came time to divide and go to other candidates to either make them viable or 'go for the numbers,' I was told by at least one group that they were told that, under no circumstances, should they go with Bill Richardson, as he was the direct competition.

What?! Richardson was the closest to being viable, other than the three endorsed by the media from the beginning of the year. If the folks who didn't have enough people to be viable would have gone with Richardson, there would have been more than enough to allow Richardson one delegate in my precinct.

I am so disappointed, not only for my chosen candidate, but that folks really do follow like cattle. I thought Iowans were smart, principled, and independent thinkers.

My second choice, if I had one, was backed by the person who had instructed his followers not to support Richardson.

It seems I picked the correct person. Richardson is smart, dedicated, principled, cares about people and actually looks one in the eye when talking.

There wasn't a ton of room at the Republican caucus I attended in my home town, two hours north of Stephanie. I stood for about a third of the time, next to an open chair. Finally, it seemed there were in fact enough to go around, so I took a seat when it was clear no one else needed one. There was a lot of shuffling of precincts, so a number of people moved around quite a bit until they got settled in for the evening.

THANK GOD for secret ballots! No arm twisting for me. No one knew who I voted for, except those of you who read my last post. No one at the caucus itself had any idea, though they could have guessed easily enough.

I feel Stephanie's disappointment in other people, who she says really follow like cattle. I'd say sheep is more like it, myself. Iowans may well be smart, principled, and independent thinkers. When they're by themselves! Just like people anywhere else. Besides, Iowans are esteemed nationwide for their aptitude and ethics because of one main reason: Iowa is a great place to be from. If all those wonderfully talented, honest, hard working Iowans stayed home like I did, few others would know about us! Unfortunately, most of us move out of state and as Stephanie has learned the hard way, what's left behind often leaves a lot to be desired! I know I'm sure considered a misfit in the town I grew up in. I'm one of what seems like a relative handful of people I graduated with that live here but who don't have an arrest record. I also haven't fathered a handful of children with multiple young women, which has become startlingly common. Family trees around here tend to be genuinely knotted, gnarled affairs!

Although Stephanie had a bad experience, I must applaud her for her choice of candidate. Governor Richardson was my favorite among the Democrats! She did a great job of picking out good qualities when she settled on him. Hopefully he fares better in the primaries other states have...

Eileen lives a bit closer to me, and her letter appeared directly below Stephanie's. She apparently is from Ames, only about a hour and a half south of me on I-35, and famous for being the site of Iowa State University as well as the USDA animal laboratories. Eileen's take:

To say that Barack Obama won or that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards lost in my Ames precinct would not be a fair assessment. Each was liked and respected equally, at least by us. (Some Joe Biden and Bill Richardson supporters left rather than join with the top three.)

I asked a girl standing beside me (there were only half enough chairs for those attending) what she thought of the proceedings, and she said she felt fairly sure she would never attend another Iowa caucus.

There should have been a way to mark our preference for all the candidates, maybe with a simple 'X' or by listing preferences in numerical order. It might have taken longer to tally but it would have been much more representative of our preferences.

If Iowans want bigger turnouts at the next caucus, they need to establish more caucus sites; the one assigned to us was clearly overcrowded and inadequate.

I'm pleased to report that the young girls next to me look like they'll definitely be involved in politics for at least a while. They really had a lot of enthusiasm. I'm sure that one named Tiara will get decent mileage from my nominating her as a delegate to the county convention in March.

Again, THANK GOD for secret ballots. Apparently Eileen would agree with that sentiment!

It would seem that turnouts were twice what was expected pretty much everywhere in the state on caucus night.

With the Democrats running their caucuses as they most often did that night, I think I probably would have been one of those supporters leaving instead of going to stand with the crowd of another one of the big three candidates. I don't dislike any of them, but I look at a number of things in a candidate for any elected office, and none of the front runners in either party have enough of those traits for me to feel good about them being President of the United States.

And, of course, I don't like being railroaded or having my hand forced. Especially in front of everyone else!

Do any of us? I'd like all of us who vote in any REAL elections, which caucuses are not, to stop for a moment and reflect how very fortunate we are that in this country, secret ballots are as prized as much as the right to vote itself!

God Bless,

theTiGor