My First Caucus

In 2008 I tried to caucus for my candidate.  It didn’t go well.  My husband and I stood in a very long line that wound around the block.  We stood in this line for 2 hours on a very cold evening.  We never got in.  Ballots were handed out and we looked for a flat surface on which to write.  We tossed our ballots into a box, uncertain if they would be counted.

Now it’s 2016 and the Democrats began advertising their caucus weeks ago.  This time we could get tickets online so things would be better.  We did this.  I was still skeptical.  A friend who was volunteering at the caucus assured me there would be a “fast lane” for people with tickets.  Okay!

The doors were supposed to close at 7 p.m. and the caucus would begin.  The suggested arrival time was 6 p.m. and then was changed to 5 p.m.  We arrived downtown just after 5 p.m. and drove by the venue—there were long lines going in all directions.  Oh boy.  Where to park?  As we pulled up to the nearest parking garage, an attendant put out a “full” sign.  Dang!  We drove for blocks and finally found a spot.  As we hurriedly walked towards our destination, a cold wind hit us from behind.

I quizzed a couple people in line and learned that both ticketed and unticketed people were there.  I dragged my husband up to the front so I could determine which line was the fast lane.  I saw someone I know, one of the people in charge, so I asked her my question.  There was no fast lane—everyone was mixed together (but the tickets did help them realize that they needed two buildings).  My heart sank.  I told her that we hadn’t gotten into the caucus in 2008.  She looked stricken and said not to tell her that because she was in charge.  She then promised to get us in.  Soon we filled out ballots and walked into a nearly empty arena. We were directed to the Hillary side where we were handed stickers and signs.

We quickly found seats and settled in for the night.  There was a screen in front of us showing both Hillary and Bernie videos along with local people talking about what the Democratic Party stands for.  We watched people very slowly filter in.  I thought of all those people standing out in the cold and momentarily felt a bit guilty about my luck—but I realized that would not have been able to stand out in the cold very long.  Soon I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me.

I passed the time watching the screen which now also had the addition of tweets about the caucus.  Periodically I retrieved the second ballot, hat, and gloves of the woman behind me who kept dropping them.  We laughed over it.  I checked Facebook on my smart phone and posted where I was.  Soon I got a text from a friend who asked me where I was seated.  She found us and claimed a seat next to us.

When 7 p.m. rolled around, the emcee came on the screen and explained that we would wait to start so the people in the lines could get in.  I was seeing descriptions on Facebook that the lines were going for 15 blocks or more.  The hockey stadium where we were was only one location.  Next door there were more people.  As people walked in, the Bernie side began to fill up and then overflow with mostly young people.  They approached the caucus like a football game—cheers, stomping, and even the wave.  A guy sitting below us tried to lead the Hillary side in cheers.  We were rather pitiful by comparison—not an energetic group.  As the Bernie crowd got larger and louder, some of the Hillary organizers came out with bullhorns to lead us in cheers.  It was. ..better.

We finally started at 9 p.m. with bagpipes and the national anthem. . . and then we waited for them to do it in the other venue.  Around 9:20 p.m. we heard the speeches by local people for each candidate; the mayor of Boise spoke for Hillary Clinton.  There was talk about uniting in November and voting down the ballot, not just for president.

And then we waited.  The rows were tight and it was difficult to get out.  At one point everyone was asked to sit because the people milling about in the walkway were breaking fire code.  We waited some more.  Everybody was told to take selfies to post.  When it was explained that we didn’t have to submit another ballot unless we wanted to change our vote or if we wanted to vote for delegates, people began to leave.

Around 10:15 p.m. we were told there was no estimate of when the count of the first ballots would be completed.  More people left.  We walked out about 10:30 p.m.  We had been there 5 hours and all we had done was submit a ballot when we arrived.

So this was my first caucus experience.  It was not how I envisioned it.  We were told that we had the largest caucus in U.S. history.  This was not a good thing.  So many people were disenfranchised.  Not many people have the time and stamina to go through this process.  It left out the elderly, disabled, sick, many working people, military, people with young children, and more.  They didn’t come at all.  Others came and left after standing in line for hours.  The cold got to many while young children were tired, hungry, or needed bathrooms.  The people who could handle the conditions the best were young—and most of them came out for Bernie.  It definitely affected the voting.

People started posting on social media that they want a primary next time.  By this morning the executive director of the party said she had hundreds of angry emails and that they are talking about a primary in 2020.  Thank goodness.

The upside to this messy caucus?  We live in a very red state.  It was amazing to see so many Democrats out for our county caucus—9,100+ ballots were cast (and many more left before voting).  The young Bernie supporters were excited.  I hope they will stick around even if their candidate isn’t the nominee.  We need a more balanced state legislature.  Our lawmakers are preparing to go home after skipping over the important issues that affect people’s lives and instead spent time on bad bills, some of which are unconstitutional and will cost us more money defending them.  We need these young voters even after they no longer “feel the bern!”