I am back from my precinct caucus

[naomikritzer]

There was a line around the block of people trying to get in the front door, but as we were walking over from where we'd parked, some nice people tipped us off that there was a side door with no line. We did still have to wait in line to get into the classroom, and the caucus, which was supposed to start at 7, was not convened until 7:30 because it took that long for the line (the line outside the classroom -- I don't know about the line outside the building) to get dealt with.

Based on the number of ballots turned in, there were 400 people at our caucus. Which blew my mind -- I considered that a truly amazing number of people to show up for a precinct caucus -- until I saw the total for springbok1's caucus: 613.

Obama creamed Hillary (250 to 150, or thereabouts) with 2 uncommitted and 2 people who "went to the wrong primary" (apparently they wrote down names of Republican candidates). Molly, who is a Hillary supporter, was disappointed, but to console her we filched a Hillary sign off the wall and took it home so she could hang it up in her room.

Ed and I are both delegates to the Senate District convention, and the City convention (which will endorse School Board candidates). I really do find these fun (in a warped, wonkish sort of way), but figuring out babysitting is always a hassle. We brought Molly and Kiera with us tonight, but I really do try not to inflict an entire day of "are there any other nominations? are there any other nominations? are there any other nominations?" on them if I can help it.

ETA: Apparently the lost Republicans voted for McCain and Romney. I found this out because I commented about it over at my sister's LJ, and said I wished I knew which Republicans got voted for. It turns out that one of her friends was one of the tellers in my precinct. I know the Internet knows everything, but that took it to a whole new level.

Comments

Da one I volunteered at

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Wuz Obama - 705 to 183 Clinton; and I'll guess a smattering (14) of offsiders.

Saint Paul East Side? Crazy.

[monkeydance.livejournal.com]

Sherry, little Martin, and I spent about fifteen minutes trying to find a parking place near Harding High. Our precinct - the most blue precinct in Saint Paul - tripled or quadrupled its count from 2004. Senator Obama _creamed_ Senator Clinton 64-18.

After years of 7-2 not actually having enough caucusers to fill its delegate count, there were actually fifteen people who wanted to go to the county-wide. Crazy.

[levertovfan.livejournal.com]

My precinct, which is roughly synonymous with the Wedge district of Minneapolis, was exactly 500 Obama to 130-ish Clinton. A lot of people showed up.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Sounds exciting!

Up here they're reporting that Clinton took NY and California while Obama "did very well" in the middle of the country...

[allochthon.livejournal.com]

When are those conventions? I'll check my babysitting calendar.

I ended up not going to the caucus, and now I'm glad I didn't. Crowds and all...

[naomikritzer]

The first one is March 8th. I think the second one is May 17th, or whatever the closest Saturday is to May 17th.

[anngz.livejournal.com]

Chris was in charge of balloting at our caucus. We ended up with around 470 people - triple the turnout in 2004. Voting went approx. 70% Obama, 30% Clinton, with I think one vote for Biden, 2 for Edwards, and 3 for Kucinich. The best part was that there were a lot of new caucus goers who stayed for the whole thing and wanted to volunteer for various posts and committees. Our precinct always had a horrible time finding chairs and associate chairs, but this year had to amend our bylaws so that we could have 3 associate chairs.

[naomikritzer]

Dang, we should've thought of that, given that we had three people who wanted to do it, plus a teenager (I think she was a teenager) that had expressed an interest but bowed out when other people volunteered. We voted instead. Admittedly, voting does convey the impression that this is a highly desirable and sought-after position that everyone should want the opportunity to do, at least to people who haven't done it before.