By Will Mari
With the Washington state caucuses just a day away, much of the news has centered on the tight contest between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. But Republicans in our state are also getting excited for Saturday's caucuses.
"I don't care if you're Democratic, Republican, Green, whatever ... if you're a red-blooded American, you're heart is pumping right now," said Dave Irons, a self-confessed "political junkie" and the GOP's state committeeman for King County.
Sen. John McCain will be in Seattle later today and Janet Huckabee, wife of former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee, will be meeting supporters in Kirkland this afternoon, a reminder that about half of the state's 40 delegates remain up for grabs, with the rest to be decided at the presidential primary on Feb. 19.
Irons, a precinct committee officer, will be running the pooled caucus site at Discovery Elementary for the northern part of the Sammamish Plateau. One of two such sites in this part of the 5th Legislative District, the caucus will be home to a total of 38 local precinct meetings.
Irons predicts a turnout of between 250 and 600 people. Before former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney dropped out of the race on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Irons thought that as many as 700 might show up.
A Romney fan, Irons was looking forward to a hard-fought fight with McCain backers, but with the Massachusetts governor out of the race, the caucuses might be a bit mellower.
"I think it'll be interesting and entertaining, just not as interesting as before," he said. "Most of the fun things will be on the Democratic side," he added.
"It'll probably be considerably calmer without Romney," he said. Irons believes that half of the Romney folks will stay home, but that the rest will reluctantly show up.
"I don't think it's that much of a leap," he said, but still a "leap back" for people who don't feel comfortable with McCain's conservative credentials. Irons said that the suddenness of Romney's exit, coming off a mediocre Super Tuesday performance, contributes to the letdown.
"They're going to go through a mourning period," he said.
He said he had just filled in mail-in primary ballot for McCain, his second choice and the back-up pick of several of his fellow Romney supporters. Opting for the alternate candidate wasn't easy, however.
"I know you got a lot of really dejected people right now. They have to mend their wounds, but they'll move on," he said.
One of those forced to "move on" is Bob Brunjes, the GOP co-chair of the 5th District. Brunjes has been actively volunteering for Romney since last summer and was looking forward to caucusing for his candidate at Cascade View Elementary in Snoqualmie, at the eastern edge of King County.
"I'm kinda' shocked by it," he said. "I thought we were about to do a wonderful thing on Saturday."
Burjess, the precinct captain at Cascade View, is still planning on caucusing as an independent.
But he said he'll probably wind up voting for McCain, and that's OK with him.
"I'm not a McCain fan," but as a conservative, "on our issues, he's for us."
And while Romney's supporters will be making a tough decision over the next couple of days, Huckabee backers on the Eastside are standing by their man.
"I'm feeling very optimistic about Romney dropping out," said Danille Turissini, the state volunteer director of Washington for Huckabee.
"The feeling on the ground is that it's swelling," she said. "Lots of people signing up ... lots of e-mails and phone calls."
She said that her group of 140 or so volunteers will try and encourage their neighbors to get out to the caucus sites.
"We will attempt to reach undecided voters through person-to-person networking and by introducing Mrs. Huckabee to folks outside of our 'usual' demographic of Republican and faith-based voters," she said.
Maria Lancaster is a social conservative who plans on caucusing for Huckabee at Cascade Elementary. She said she's chiefly motivated by Huckabee's anti-abortion and "pro-marriage" positions.
"Before he was popular, he put a stake in the ground, and said he was pro-life," she said. "I respected that because ... he really stands for it."
Another motivation is Hillary Clinton.
"We don't need that again," she said.
The first-timer caucus-goer wasn't sure what effect Romney's departure would have on Saturday and beyond.
"That really changes everything," she said. "Mitt Romney had a lot of people, and they have to go to either McCain or Huckabee."
But said she'll be fine either way.
"I prefer Huckabee, but I think John McCain would make a fine president."