The Lincoln Township, a mostly rural area, is caucusing in the cafeteria of the Indianola middle school. My first caucus was also in the township 4 years ago but it took place in the town courthouse, a much smaller venue, and I think it's safe to say there are at least twice the people the people this year. This may be because some of Republicans have decided to caucus with the Democrats, or because the township has grown, or because people believe this is an important election, or because no one here has seen anything like the amount of money, phone calls, and people being poured into this state. It's a lot like Christmas where there has been so much hype and now it needs to be over. It's as if enough people show up, it will be over.
The Republicans are caucusing across the way at the high school, but they have a different procedure, whereby they take care of business like election chairs, but they vote privately and go home. Or so I'm told. It's kind of a secret how the Republicans do this. But if I were a Republican, I'd switch just to be at the Democratic caucus, which breaks every rule about not talking politics with people you do business with or depend upon in bad weather.
I'm not the only out-of-stater who has become fascinated with the caucus process, as I found out when all observers (mostly children under 18 writing school reports) were told to go stand in the corner, so that we didn't accidentally get counted in with a group. Going to my first caucus, 4 years ago was like going back to someplace that only existed in my imagination. It was like stepping into Harvard Yard for the first time, or going to Disneyland, or seeing the Congressional chambers, not just on television. It's one of those things that. like a classic novel, (say Madame Bovery) has waited for just the right time for you to find it. One of the magic things about my first caucus night was that 150 people voted John Kerry 1st, John Edwards 2nd, and Howard Dean, 3rd, which is ultimately how the entire state went.
I'm glad my first caucus was in a courthouse because, well that's more romantic than
a middle-school cafeteria. But walking into the middle-school cafeteria, it was immediately apparent that there was a big Hillary presence in the room. Or at least they were the loudest. People signed in. Neighbors who hadn't seen each other since last spring shook hands patted themselves on the back for the half hour before 7:00 when the doors closed.
Roger Kruhl, the caucus precinct chair, had as the first order of business, nominating himself and a woman as secretary. As soon as that passed, standing on a table he shouted out the rules of a caucus: "WE AREN'T DOING A POPULAR VOTE. WHAT YOU ARE DOING TONIGHT IS ELECTING DELEGATES. YOU NEED 15% TO HAVE A VIABLE CANDIDATE. WE HAVE A RECORD 270 PEOPLE HERE, SO YOU NEED 40 PEOPLE TO BE VIABLE. IF YOU ARE UNDECIDED THERE IS LITERATURE ON THE TABLE. UNDECIDEDS CAN STAND IN THAT CORNER. PEOPLE CAN APPROACH YOU AND TRY TO CONVINCE YOU TO COME TO YOUR GROUP. PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT VIABLE CAN EITHER JOIN ANOTHER CANDIDATE AS A GROUP OR INDIVIDUALLY. NO WRESTLING, NO ARM ROLLING. NO KNOCKING EACH OTHER DOWN."
Kruhl went on to caution: "Don't leave before we tell you can leave. Your group will lose people. If you see anything not done right, come over and register a complaint." He assigns areas for people to go stand. The first count is: Biden 3. Dodd 10. Kucinich 4. Richardson 26. Obama 59. Clinton 71. Edwards 91.
Each group that has a viability chance stands up and says why their candidate should get the extra people;
Obama's spokesperson, a Grinnell student says: "The difference is in character. Obama took a job working with the poor in Chicago out of Harvard law school when he could have been making multiple digits at a law firm. He is lauded by his Republican counterparts as someone who will reach across the aisle."
The Edwards spokesperson says that Edwards will stand up for the middle class.
The Richardson spokesperson has the diplomacy skills to deal with foreign policy and the ability to beat the Republicans.
The Clinton spokesperson says we have great candidates this year and they have a lot in common but she trust Hillary to do something about health care. " How many of our kids are going to graduate college in debt?" she asks.
Everyone is now free to move.
The room explodes. Every one starts walking around. There is an undecided man near us who seemed to have commitment issues although in retrospect he was committed to remaining undecided. As it turns out the undecided people are standing near Richardson, and one of them wanders over there she says because he needs people and because he is close.
Richardson gets a lot of the Dodd people, some of whom had a game plan to go with whichever of the "bottom" candidate had the most chance of viability. Obama gathers some people. Edwards gathers 1. Richardson has 26 and needs 4 more.
Then like an auction someone stands on a table and says Richardson needs 4 more. Someone comes over. Come on 3 more.
No one comes.
"Edwards people! Should we send all our people to Obama? You send 3, you still remain ahead. We break up we scatter people. Or everyone send over one person. Everyone stays the same, but we get one more viable candidate."
This takes a little while to work out, complicated by the fact that the numbers of the various groups determine the number of delegates each group gets to send. Someone explains to me that the delegates, while ethically bound to vote for their candidate, are not legally bound, so it is theoretically possible for an Obama delegate to cast other people's votes for say, Hillary Clinton. (I'd like to research this a bit more before I start claiming it as fact.)
But the Edwards people make a deal with the Richardson people. Richardson gives up a delegate to become viable. Edwards sends over the three people.
At the end of the night the score was Edwards, 89. Obama, 69. Clinton, 71. Richardson 40. 1 undecided. (That guy).
Delegates: Clinton 4, Obama 4, Edwards 7, Richardson 2. Total 17 delegates.
Afterwards the guy who spoke up for Obama said: "The Edwards people played the game," but in all fairness, it was theirs to play.
A bunch of people stayed behind to clean up signs and elect delegates. Down the hall some kids played basketball in the gym.
It was a great night.