Cauc-you. Cauc-me. Cauc-us!

Rob and I weren’t sure what to expect yesterday as we drove further into the middle of nowhere to participate in a part of the election process that was brand new to us. We went caucusing!!

Washington state does not have political party registration. Instead, you are simply a registered voter. I like this since I really feel like I am a Woman Without a Party. I don’t nicely align with either the Democrats or the Republicans. I much prefer “Registered Voter.” It only makes me feel obligated to vote, not how to vote.

This blog here isn’t the forum for me to discuss my political views. Suffice it to say I’m not enamored by any of the candidates on either side. Although yesterday I signed up with and marginally participated in one party’s caucus, I wandered over to the other party just to peek for a while. Here are some observations:

• There were about ten times more Democrats caucusing than Republicans. This made sense since the Dems have a tight two-person race whereas it all seems about decided for the Republicans. Also, the way Washington’s primary works, the caucus is the only vote that counts for the Democrats; next week’s primary here is largely a waste of time for them (for the Republicans, the caucus counts 51% and the primary counts 49%).


• Perhaps because it mattered more to them, the Democrats were much better prepared for caucusing. They had professionally printed signs, the organizers had been trained, and there were plenty of handouts. I even saw several clipboards. If you know me, you know the love and respect I have for clipboards.


• The Republicans, presumably just going through the motions, seemed to be making stuff up on the fly. Both of their signs were handmade, written on the back of a local rep’s letterhead and taped on the wall with black electrical tape. There was only one copy of a key handout, and the two guys running the gig kept asking each other what they were supposed to be doing. Oh, and they were two of our local elected officials, instilling much confidence.


• Both caucuses had people organize themselves by precinct. There were 29 from our precinct in the Democrat caucus, nine in the Republican one.


• Inexplicably, the Republican caucus never got around to discussing candidates. They were too busy wringing their collective hands over proposed legislation to track livestock and later, some local issues involving property rights. The latter was brought up by a man proudly proclaiming to be the founder of a (the?) local militia. Militia!?!


• Over with the Democrats, our precinct decided to take over a hallway. They all stood in a circle and sort of like a group dance at a wedding, one person at a time stepped forward to say who they supported and why. At the end of each dance, I mean speech, like-minded supporters applauded.


• It was suddenly deja vu-y to hear Obama supporters call for a need for change, an ability to mobilize the youth vote, and the need for a new generation of leadership. It was just like 1992 Bill Clinton all over again.


• The fervor of views being expressed on both sides bordered on down right scary.


• If you are undecided, middle of the road, moderate in your views, or seeking to find answers, not give them…caucusers are not your people.


• Wranglers and Carhartts are bipartisan.

Although I am no closer today than I was yesterday to knowing whom I want to be our next President, I am very happy we went to the caucus. It was fun to lurk around and watch grass-roots politicizing in action. Rob found perhaps the best summary of our caucus experience in an Op-Ed piece in today’s local paper. Written by a guy who didn’t caucus yesterday because it was his day to pressure-wash the cat, John Laird said, “To miss a couple hours of cliché-driven, excruciatingly verbose political yammering is regrettable.”

Sounds to me like John was there after all.