I attended my first Caucus last Tuesday evening in Colorado. I changed my registration from a Republican to Democrat when I found out Obama was running. I wanted the opportunity to vote for him in what I thought would be a primary. I was wrong. Colorado uses the weird, outdated caucus system. I had never participated in this before mainly because I voted absentee or voted in primaries in the states where I was stationed with the Air Force. I was curious and excited and yet, a bit nervous at the same time. I could not find parking and arrived 2 minutes late into the room. As I walked into the room, I felt strange as 60 eyes stared at me. I registered, the rules were read, and then we took a straw poll. The room was divided into the Obama side and the Clinton side. 22 people moved to the far side of the room and 8 people remained near the exit. Clintonites were outnumbered and rightfully so. Hillary Clinton only had 30 delegates in Colorado and the state was not worthy of her campaign so she had ignored campaigning here. So, of course, people went with the candidate who did appear, who did come and discuss issues with the Colorado Democrats that were eager to listen. After the straw poll, one of the women on the Clinton side complained that she felt unwelcome in the room because of the all the Obama signs and stickers. The debates continued from there - people complained back and forth about the candidates but I took away a very important observation from the bickering and the bitter comments from the Clinton side- the Clinton side was very defensive about her. Most of the Obama folks were not even sure about what he stood for - they just liked him - the "rockstar appeal".
In either case, it was an interesting experience for me. I felt like I was caucusing in enemy territory because I was a registered Republican for 15 years prior to this but I felt very comfortable and at ease with the Obama folks - they were young, professional (for the most part) and just really excited people- they were enthusiastic and happy to be there. I did not get the same impression from the Clinton side. I am not sure how the candidates will do in the big race in November. For example, part of me thinks it would be better for the Democratic party to have Obama on the ticket because if Clinton is on the ticket alone, the Republicans will win. But then again, who knows? Americans tend to vote on image and appearance instead of the issues. Most people do not have time to read or listen to the debates and tend to make judgments on rumors, what others think, and appearances. For example, I think many voters who would vote for Obama will not vote for Clinton and would choose McCain over her for sure- simply because they think McCain is more moderate than Clinton.
All in all, it was an interesting night and I had a good time but certainly wish I could have gone to the Republican caucus too to see the differences --- maybe in 2012, I will switch back over to truly be able to compare the two camps?
Happy Voting in November!!
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