Growing up in Vegas I never actually lived in the “city” of Las Vegas. This means that I never had a chance to vote on the mayor or city council. Also, I just missed out on voting for the president there because I turned 18 right after Clinton’s second term. So now the primary in Nevada is a Caucus and of course I don’t live out there anymore. But, I was able to talk with some friends and family about the experience of going to a caucus. Reading up on the process it seems like it would be pretty interesting but perception and reality are two different things.
So, I emailed two of my “insiders” who went to the Caucus…one Democrat and one Republican (of the ten or so black Republicans in Las Vegas half are in my family or I grew up with them. LOL!). I just asked them general questions about the day. It seems that the Dems had it really organized. On the other side it seems that things didn’t go as smoothly as you would expect.
But, below are the answers to the questions I sent them. This is purely for insight into the process for those in states, as myself, who only have a regular primary:
The Democratic Experience from a Voters POV - Dem.
What were your first impressions when you went to the caucus?
It was very positive. There were volunteers for both Barrack and Hillary with campaign stickers outside the entrance doors. I encountered the Barrack volunteer first, took a sticker, and he directed me to the location were my precinct was meeting. Then I encountered the Hillary volunteer she gave me directions, too.
What were the demographics (in other words…any black folks except yourself)?
There was diversity, but it was majority white. I saw two black Prescient Captains.
What actually happens in the Caucus for those who don’t know?
You register with your prescient, sign in and receive a voter registration card. My caucus was in the gym of Silvertri Middle School. There were campaign signs all along the belchers along with your prescient number. You were to sit with your prescient in the section with the folks who supported your candidate. The registration was set to start at 11am. I arrived about 10:45am and registration had already begun. I sat next to a young black woman with a couple of children. I even called a couple of people to come join me at the caucus. Each prescient had a Captain and it was his/her job to direct folks where to sit and make them feel welcome. The Prescient Captain for my group had called me that morning to remind me of the caucus time and meeting place. I also had a call from the Hillary campaign from Boston informing me of the caucus meeting. By 11:45am registration was over, the doors closed and the process began. A man introduced himself as the temporary Headquarter Captain. The first order of business was to take a vote for someone else who was interested to lead the proceeding. This man said he did receive training on how to run this meeting. As a group we agreed he should keep the position. He had two welcome letters one from Pres. Bush and one from Sen. Harry Reid to read to our group. We voted not to listen to the letters but proceed. We were instructed not to fill out our ballot until the end. We sat close together with the folks that were voting for the same candidate. As we were sitting chanting starting, first someone starts chanting Hillary, then someone starting chanting Obama. Actually I like the one the Obama folks got going, “Obama08, be part of something great!” The atmosphere was very spirited, a lot like a pep rally. Once we were divided in our groups, each Prescient Captain for each candidate took a physical count of the people in attendance. A candidate had to have at least 15 people to receive delegate votes. There were 98 people in attendance and 3 choices. Folks for Edwards had less than 15 votes. They could choose to vote with Hillary or Obama or not be counted at all. Of the five Edwards’ people, one vote went to Hillary, four went to Obama. The votes were taken 3 times before the final number were decided. It ended up being a tie with Hillary and Obama each getting five delegate votes. We then filled out our paper ballots. The next order of business was to choose 10 people to actually cast the votes for our prescient at the State Assembly meeting. Five Hillary people raised their hand, and six Obama people raised their hands. Since there were to be only five Obama representatives, we were asked by the Headquarter Captain to give a 2 minute speech expressing why we wanted to go to the State Assembly. The first volunteer called on to speak changed his mind and now there were just five. But in order to be fair, the Headquarter Captain thought we should still continue with the speeches. A few people said they need to leave; it was now after 12:30pm. An older white man gave a short speech stating he was a lifetime democrat and he belonged to a local political group. I gave my speech next saying I was a librarian with the Clark County School. It would be my privilege to represent my prescient because Obama was a man I believed should be our next President. I wanted to be a part of history. The others didn’t speak, the meeting was dismissed. The volunteers went back to the registration table to fill out a form registering to be at the State Assembly.
Was everyone given a chance to talk?
Yes.
Was it an open forum or very controlled?
It was very controlled and very organized.
How was your experience?
It was a great experience and I’m glad I was there, Was it what you expected? I didn’t really know what to expect but I was very interested and even changed my personal plans so that I would be there on January 19th. I definitely would attend another caucus.
The Democratic Experience from a Voters POV - Repub.
What were your first impressions when you went to the caucus?
First Impressions: Unorganized, wack and could have been done over the Internet
What were the demographics (in other words…any black folks except yourself)?
There were a few black folks, majority white.
What actually happens in the Caucus for those who don’t know?
You sit on the side of the candidate you want to support. If that candidate doesn’t get at least 15% support they are nixed.
Was everyone given a chance to talk?
Not everyone needed to talk. Only those who wanted to convince others, who were supporting a different candidate, could state their case.
Was it an open forum or very controlled?
The Dem Caucus was very open. The Republican Caucus was more controlled.
How was your experience? Was it what you expected?
On a scale of 1 - 10. I would rate it a 4. It wasn’t what I expected.
Posted by kdub under Opinions & Politics & Posts worth wasting 2 minutes on | No Comments »
