My NV Caucus Experience

You may be aware that today was Nevada's caucus. The final numbers are coming in, and it looks like Hillary has taken the state with 51% of the vote. Next was Barack with 44% and Edwards with 4%.


I hoofed my way over to my precinct voting center at 11am. There was a line to get in, which was pretty long, so I was excited that there were so many people coming out and doing their duty to vote. Later, I found out that there were actually two precincts voting at the site in two different locations in the elementary school. So, as it turns out, there were only 116 people that showed up from my precinct.

I have one thing to say about that. DISAPPOINTING.

I just don't get it. Anyhow, I'll get up on my soapbox a little later about that topic.

So here I am, standing in line, when an Obama volunteer comes up to me and says, "Are you here for Obama? I'll give you an Obama sticker."

"Err, uh, no." I say.

"Oh." she says, looking at me over her I-just-graduated-from-college-and-now-I-know-how-to- wipe-my-butt glasses.

Then she says, "That explains why you don't have a sticker. You must be supporting Hillary."

And then she flounced her hair over her shoulder and kept going on down the line.

Now, see, politics doesn't always make my blood boil. It is the people associated with politics that do. So, now, I am GOOD AND PISSED.

A few minutes later, I hear her ask a woman the same thing. And then I hear her say, "Well, you know, Obama is polling right now at 60% to win."

WHAT??!!! Just as I am thinking about getting out of line and strangling her for being so disrespectful to the other supporters in line and being completely inappropriate in general, another woman steps out of line and says "SHAME ON YOU. You should be ashamed that you, as a caucus volunteer would be walking up and down this line spouting BS numbers like that."

AWESOME. That shut her up for good.

Now, by this time, I am getting into the caucus room. In a caucus, you go and stand with the people who are supporting your preferred candidate. I had only made up my mind last week to support Hillary, so I trotted over to her group.

It was a small group.

Of the 116 people there, 73 voted for Obama, 33 voted for Hillary, and the balance wanted Edwards.

Your candidate must have at least 15% of the total votes in the room to be considered viable. If they don't, the individuals supporting that candidate are supposed to walk to another group that they would support to a lesser extent. Let's just explain that as their second-best nominee.

So, the ten people that wanted Edwards were told that their candidate was unviable. That meant that they needed to align with either Obama or Clinton. Three of them went to Obama, and two of them came to the Clinton camp. One of the guys coming to the Clinton camp was African-American, and boy, can I tell you it was UNCOMFORTABLE. You could have heard a pin drop. Interesting, huh?

The other three chose to remain "uncommitted" which I just think is asinine, because the point of a caucus is to get as many delegates as possible for either your nominee, or your second-best choice. So go ahead and sit there, DUMMIES.

In the end, Obama received 5 delegates and Clinton received 2. I left feeling pretty disenchanted. But, I told myself, at least I went and was a part of democracy.

It was very interesting to me, to see that the majority of Obama supporters, except for six, because I counted (of course) were African American. All of the Edwards supporters (all 10 of them) except one was White. The Hillary supporters were probably 75% Hispanic, and the balance were White.

This leads me to wonder--why is it that the Caucasians in my neighborhood didn't feel the need to get up off of their asses and come vote? I mean, literally, out of 116 people, there were probably 30 of us.

Do white people just not care? (In my precinct, anyhow?) I mean, do they feel like whatever happens, they are good with the outcome because they feel like they will come out OK? Did all of these minorities come out because Obama and Clinton are truly speaking to them about issues that they care about? I was confused.

In the end--what I think that I have come away with is the fact that I think politics in general should be your own business. And that is why I prefer a primary cast-your-ballot type of voting event. In a caucus, it tends to feel more like a home coming football rally. And I really felt like the way it was physically set up, that the Obama supporters were STARING DOWN the Clinton supporters. I didn't like that. Voting shouldn't be filled with ill will or animosity. It should feel good to be with your fellow Democrats, not awkward or uncomfortable.

I am proud to say that I have voted in every presidential election since I was of age. In the past, I always voted because I believed it was the right thing to do. This time around, I am doing it also to be a good role model for my son.

Come on folks. Do you part. Even if it is inconvenient, or uncomfortable or new or awkward. VOTE. If for any reason, do it for your kids.