OBAMA family - who knew

[mimitabby]

There are 9 of us in Washington, two seniors, my husband and I, my two sons, one has a fiance, and my nephew and his wife. The nephew, a past Kucinich man, and I are the only ones who have ever been political.

Saturday changed all that. My husband and I went to the caucus (and met 8 other people from our one block alone, our precinct went from 2 people 4 years ago attending to 45!!!!!)

When we got home we found out that both sons are alternates, the fiance is a PCO & delegate,
and the nephew and his wife are delegates too!

and my formerly bush supporting stepfather said, OBAMA. it's time for a change.!!!

wooohoooooo

[countryjake]

1. This is one of the reasons to argue that the caucus method is a good thing...

in regards to party politics, just the example of your one family now becoming a major force in actually participating in the remaining caucuses to nominate our candidate, demonstrates that grassroots participation, when considered a civic duty, actually creates activists, encourages talking with your neighbors about the dreaded "P" word (politics), and educates, informs, and stimulates interest in "being a member of the party".

Years ago, our caucuses were considerably more effective and more conducive to group participation, but with such major increases in state population now, they really need to either overhaul the way caucuses are conducted (and where they are held) or scrap that system, all together. We used to have coffee and cookies, preliminary conversation and introductions, chances for every member present to speak, and serious presentation of issues concerning us all, with discussion on how effectively each candidate offers solutions to those issues.

I would hate to see the latter scrapping happen, simply because mere mail-in voting does nothing to encourage involvement in the important matter of determining who represents us as President of the country, and it would take the selection of convention delegates out of the hands of a majority of the people and give too much power to people in the party who are already dedicated activists for their cause.

People view our caucuses as inconvenient now, in this day of fast and furious lifestyles, but for those who see the entire DNC as a sell-out and not a representative force, this is just one of the ways to begin to upset that power, from the ground up. If people care.

Kudos to your family for joining in the process and good luck to them all at the next caucus.

[eridani]

2. Bingo

Our precinct had 35 attendees, up from 11 in 2004. Most of these people have never met each other as Democrats. It is no accident that caucus states have the strongest local Dem parties.

[mimitabby]

3. not to mention that children were welcome

I watched a 16 year old boy absolutely enthralled with the process. And his dad, a previously
UNpolitical person, became a delegate.

It was great. And we did have some refreshments, although it was so packed that I didn't feel like scrunching through the crowd to get them.

[countryjake]

4. There was a sixteen yr. old sitting right next to me, at ours...

I think that being able to include our children in something it is understood is a normal part of life every four years is another plus for the caucuses and gets kids used to the idea of "responsibility" in the entire process. At our caucuses years ago, before there even was a primary vote, we took our little ones along, to play or hang out together in a corner, while we haggled over what issues were important to their futures and which candidates might improve those futures.

This size thing with our populations in each precinct seems to be a main drawback to conducting them properly now. For instance, at ours there were ten different neighborhoods crammed into one huge hall, and lots of new folk showed up, so hearing what was being said within each precinct became a very crucial problem and I came away wondering why, if delegate selection is to be taken seriously, has it become so hard to even hear which persons seem to have firm grasps of the positions the candidates they wish to represent hold.

I realize that money is a drawback for the larger precincts, but ours is so tiny, it doesn't make sense that first caucus couldn't be held in more local, private places so that a serious meeting is held, rather than what almost amounts to a pep rally. I found out later that one older friend of mine couldn't attend this year cause she couldn't get into town and that plain sucks. There must be a better way of organizing these "crowd situations" so that we don't feel scrunched or worse yet, unheard.