I want to caucus again...only better next time

I was just beginning to have that cold bug that is going round the night of the caucus. I had flown that afternoon--not only feeling like my head was going to explode but really feeling bad that I was that person on the plane who no one wanted to get too close. I rushed home from the airport so that I could arrive at my caucus site early. Which I did.

It was spitting sleet, parking was getting crowded, but there was no big line. But, then, I had to go back home to get my ID because I was changing my registration. By the time I got back to my caucus site, the line was longer than I could have imagined and there was no real parking. I made a spot and went back to find my voting companion who was already inside.

By the way, a word to the wise, I also learned later that I should not have had to use the ID if I knew the last 4 digits of my social security number, which I do, but that's what I get for not being well enough informed.

I will admit now that I slipped into the building to get back in the registration line and did not go back outside to get in the line for entrance to the building. I knew that if I had to stand in that line, I was not likely to make it long enough to get back into the building.

I was part of a small group backing a candidate who was no longer viable, so I had almost a balcony view of the ever-expanding crowd. This candidate has old ties for me and I really caucused for him as a show of respect. It turned out to be the thing that gave me this incredible view of a caucus that I would have never had had from one of the 2 larger caucus groups.

Anyway, I watched as the room filled up, at times wondering if we might run out of oxygen and staying by the back door just in case. I found myself becoming more & more excited by watching democracy happen. Right in front of me. Oxygen or not, we were putting our selves out there as living, walking, (sometimes) chanting, votes--I kept thinking: we are voting with our bodies.

And, the young people--they were so excited! But, they weren't the only ones. Everyone seemed to be giddy from getting to be part of the process like this.

So, here's what I've been thinking: maybe it's not that we need primaries next time. Maybe we need well organized caucuses. I think "we" liked them. I think "we" turned out on both caucus days in numbers that indicate our willingness to engage with our fellow caucus goers in a more intimate way than just stepping quietly into a booth and pulling the curtain.

Anybody else wanna caucus again--only better next time?

My Heart Belongs to Barry

I would be for Hillary, if she weren't a Clinton. I know that seems like an impossible notion, but she has everything that it takes to be a terrific president. She's intelligent (I'm talkin' crazy genius smart) with her wonkish, photographic memory of foreign policy to-dos and health care and education mandates. As a senator, she has been able to reach across the aisle to effectively work with her Republican colleagues, yes, the very same ones who were part of the vast right wing conspiracy, bound and determined to water board her husband's brilliant political career.
I'm not saying that the Clintons aren't capable politicians. They both are. They're a dream team of brains, charisma and bare knuckles know-how. It's just that when you have a Clinton in the public eye, dysfunction and poor impulse control are sure to follow. Let me count the ways. Paula Jones. Gennifer Flowers. Monica Lewinsky. Health care. Travelgate. Whitewater. Cattle futures. The Marc Rich pardon. The Lincoln bedroom. I'm sure I am forgetting many of the scandals and faux pas of the Clinton era. And, yes, there were people out there--Richard Scaife, the far right wing heir to the Mellon fortune, for one--who threw millions behind slam dunking our boy Bill. But somehow, in South Carolina, when Bill Clinton referred to Obama as a niche candidate, comparing him to Jesse Jackson, there seemed to be a visible push back by the American public that invariably said, "Enough!" Somehow, all the problems of the Clinton presidency came rushing back into our collective memories. The wind from Hillary's win in New Hampshire was sucked out of her sails. And along came the wind of change, a need to turn the page, somebody who could get people, both young and old, excited and engaged in American politics once again.
The nay-sayers say that Obama is all hat and no cattle, that he is unproven, untested, that Hillary will be ready to run the country on Day One.
But I was shocked and delighted when I read in the New York Times on February 17th that Mark McKinnon, the Bush media person who has similarly helped John McCain's campaign, said that he would step aside from his duties if Obama became the Democratic nominee because he "likes Mr. Obama and what he's doing for the country."
Now, if Hillary is the nominee, bet your sweet bippy that McKinnon and his cohorts will be sharpening their knives and throwing into our faces every misstep the Clintons ever made. Do we need that kind of negative dialogue, all that bad karma, back into the political arena after we have suffered eight years of Bush's disastrous domestic and foreign policies? I say no. We all need to move on. You go, Barack...

Kansas GOP Laughs off Young Voters

This week after the Kansas GOP primary I got a tip off about a piece in a local Kansas paper about the caucus and the comparable turnout. Understandably, there was immense turnout for the Democratic caucus and not so much for the GOP despite the fact that the GOP caucus was infinitely more convenient - being on a Saturday morning which wasn't plagued with a blizzard.

That said, while more people turned out at the Democratic Caucus (independents, moderates, progressives - OH My!)- more young people also did. I can tell you there are no official numbers, no exit polls, indeed not much other than observable fact that more young people were present at the democratic caucuses.

The last line of the article is a gem:

"Everybody sees a fresh face," he said. "All these college people are really pumped up who probably aren't going to show up in November. It's one of those things that it's really interesting to watch."

The "he said" refers to the executive director of the Kansas GOP. All I could say when I read this was "You hope."

A local Kansas blog picked it up and (God bless them) discovered the youth vote themselves on this day. They mentioned that last week's KS Democratic caucus had

"more young voters participated in the 2008 Democratic caucuses than any other caucus in Kansas history.

I have no data to back this up and I don't know if its true but if it is - boy isn't that cool.

I watched all week to see how the comments from progressives and anti's would unfold, knowing full well that there is truly no youth outreach outside of the local university/college democrats in the state and hoping there would be evidence of an interest on the popular state blog. If there was enough enthusiasm perhaps Kansas is primed for some young voter action. Maybe the progressives there are interested in doing something about encouraging the youth vote.

Read the comments - they are priceless. One from what seems to be a Libertarian, one with more clarifying data about how young people turnout, and one from the KYD president who clearly has been swimming up stream like the many that have come before her.

The best part of this is the quote not included in the article is the Kansas Dem ED saying that he thinks the KS GOP is daring young people to get involved. If young people come out the way they did for the caucus there are quite a few races in Kansas that could swing to our favor. As a result, some of us are in cahoots about a potential state based youth organization for the Sunflower State. Seems they might just be ready.

Cross Posted from Future Majority

Tell us about your caucus or primary experience!

So, we know the Democratic caucuses in Kansas were well attended--and in some cases, that sent people home. In some cases, it put them in very long lines in spitting rain and sleet. And, in all cases, it sounds like the spaces were generally too small. Our Missouri members also participated in a primary election that was contested in both parties.

What problems to have! Participation in the process is at the heart of what the MAINstream Coalition is all about.

Beyond the physical inconveniences, what did it feel like to caucus? What did you see? How did you feel about participating in democracy with your neighbors? What were you feeling if you couldn't get in? What was most exciting to you?

And, if you voted in a primary, we want to hear from you about your experience voting.

So, come on, take a minute to tell us about your caucus or primary experience.

Caucus Hangover

Our buddy Joel Mathis over at the new site RedBlueAmerica.com identified it correctly... it was so hardcore that I know I'm exhausted.

The Caucus itself took for....ev....er. Not the voting part - oh no, once people got in the door it was lickity split, the trouble was getting them in the door. I feel like I got in pretty quick and I spent the rest of the time causing trouble and meeting and greeting with friends I hadn't seen in a while.

I got up at 7:30 this morning to check the CA results - still not fully in - reporting at 83% and my buddies over at CIRCLE needed to wait until at least 93% before they could start coming up with the numbers for youth turnout in the Golden State.

Joel claims that conservatives are coming to terms with their sad sorry loss to John McCain. Awww.... well isn't that too bad.... maybe next time that will teach you not to elect nutbar conservatives that aren't going to totally DESTROY OUR COUNTRY!!!! Hey, I'm just sayin'....

CIRCLE has numbers for turnout in Arizon, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Deleware, New Mexico, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts...

There were a number of states that don't have that kind of data available. One of course is the Great State of Kansas. Despite the hard hard work of a writing partner of mine we couldn't get anything on demographics from Kansas. She said the KDP will have internal numbers but won't share that with the press. I say fooey! Why wouldn't you want people to know the unbelievable turnout numbers, the insane number of non-democrats who showed up to vote, and the count for those caucus sites?? What do ya do?

Mike Connery over at FM analizes some numbers here:

"As a share of the Democratic electorate, young voters increased their share in every state for which comparable data is available.

In most states, that increased turnout was to the advantage of Barack Obama, who won the youth vote in 13 12 of the 15 states for which data is currently available. The margin by which Obama carried young voters in those states varied wildly. In some states, like Georgia, he maintained his towering advantage over Clinton among young voters, and in Missouri, where he won by a mere 10,000 votes, young voters may well have been the difference in his campaign. In other states, though, like California, Clinton cut that advantage down to just a few points. Clinton actually won California. Guess the CNN exit polls are still adjusting.

Regardless of which candidate carries the nomination next month, that increased turnout will be a big advantage for Democrats in the general election. In Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Tennessee combined, 458,000 more young people voted in the Democratic contest than the Republican. The actual amount varied widely from state to state with Connecticut at the low end (~19,000 more Democratic youth participants) and New York at the high end (~203,000 more).

The one exception to this rule thus far was Oklahoma, in which 10,000 more young voters participated in the Republican primary than the Democratic primary."

I saw Congrats to the great state of Oklahoma!! There is an excited youth population ready to be developed and recruited! They are just all voting for republicans. Not much surprise there. It seems there is a fairly substantial College Republicans operations there. Pity.

Anyway - this is what I got. Go visit Joel and Mike for more. I need another nap.

Caucus Low Down

Braving snow and high winds University of Kansas students attended one of three caucuses in the college town of Lawrence tonight where a huge number of caucus goers in the state showed up.

I'll say it again.... the real winner tonight is young voters!

My location was so full that the fire marshal had problems with the number of people and they had to be split and sent to another location. There Sen. Clinton was barely viable and received only one delegate. And the youth turnout was awesome! Young people everywhere all ready to support their candidates. Young people don't fit into a monolithic block of voters - but a majority of the young people there went for Obama.... indeed the majority of people there went for Obama but it doesn't mean that young people were not voting for Clinton.

At a friend of mine's caucus they had 2,218 people. Upon first count Hillary was also barley viable with only 5 people over the total needed. After the shuffle she earned only 30 more at 385 to Barack Obama's 1833.

My friend took pictures which you can see here:




Nationally we've seen youth turnout increase in every state that held elections and caucuses today. We are still waiting for results to come in but enthusiasm and energy for all candidates were high and turnout was fantastic.

Rock the Vote is seen here talking about young voters

And Karlo from CIRCLE (the guy I always get my numbers from) is here talking about the outstanding movement afoot this year.

Are more young people involved this year?
Karlo says yes with record turnout, amazing engagement on issues and on candidates.

I hopefully will have more info when we get numbers that are better than the exit polls. Exit polls are incredibly inaccurate in calculating the youth vote because exit polling people rarely ask young people nor do they count them.