post-caucusal

Music: Willard Grant Conspiracy: Flying Low (1998)

I am pumped and excited, and will probably have trouble getting to sleep here in an hour or so (emergency stash of ambien awaits). I just caucused for the first time in the auditorium of a nearby high school. In Texas, there are two pots of delegates (and a host of those pesky super delegates): one group is determined by voting in the primary; the other group is determined by caucusing. I voted this afternoon and then was instructed to return this evening for the caucus. My neighbor Marsha and I went together (my other neighbors were not voting, as one is not a citizen and another is cynical, two others are recovering from surgery, and two others are too elderly to hang out for long periods of time in an unventilated space).

Here's the scene: a high school auditorium almost full with people from my precinct. My neighbor and I are minorities here. Our neighborhood is mostly comprised of African Americans and Hispanics (I had to force my realtor to look in this neighborhood; you fill in the blanks). Our precinct head asked for a show of hands to get a sense of the crowd: "Whose here for Obama?" Almost all hands go up. "Whose here for Clinton?" Some hands go up. We were asked to separate ourselves to different parts of the auditorium, and then we had to "sign in" on special sheets. The signings went surprisingly fast. The excitement in the room was palpable. We were talking to each other about the news that hit today: Texas republicans are choosing to vote in the democratic primaries and caucuses for Clinton, because polls suggest a contest between McCain and Obama would favor Obama. How unfair! we said. How dishonest! we commiserated.

After the signatures were counted and checked against the rolls (one cannot caucus unless one voted in the primary) it was announced we were 242 in number, a record by a hundred for our precinct. 79% were present for Obama, which meant we got 19 delegates for the county caucus; Clinton gets five delegates from our precinct. No at large delegates. The process then was to elect delegates in each group and an equal number of alternates. Marsha and I bowed out of this process because the only reason to stay would be to become a delegate (with the potential to go to national)---unfortunately that meeting is March 28, and both of us are traveling.

Throughout the entire meeting there was a lot of applause and cheering. Everyone (but for a handful of fussy fussers) was in a great mood. It's hard to be cynical when you are around a lot of people who are not cynical. Even despite my own reservations (and grumblings about these super delegates), I still think voting is among the most important rituals ever invented. I cannot shake my civic-ness. This election is very important. I want a cigarette.