The Caucus

The county in which I live is divided into 28 districts by the democratic party. The districts were divided in to two groups, some to meet in one town, at the elementary school, and the others in the town I live near, at the high school. So off I went to the high school to participate in the great tradition know as the caucus. There were probably 150 people at the high school, and later the democrats reported that there was six times the normal turnout. Of those 150 people, my district had 5 people. The five of us gathered in our designated spot in a corner of a room. We opened our packet and began to read the rules. It was 2 couples and myself in the group. I will refer to them as Ranch man, ranch woman, Mormon man and Mormon woman. So, ranch woman begins the procedure of electing the 'chairman' and 'secretary', when Mormon man interrupts to tell us that he is a Mormon. (Am I suppose to care?) He goes on to explain that he's not voting for Clinton because women are too emotional and not suited to being in charge of things, and that he would prefer that our little group was not led by a woman. I was slack jawed. Ranch man kinda leaned back in his chair with a snicker as Ranch woman attacked by saying that she wasn't going to vote for Obama because you know all those black Muslim men just want to kill us. Managing to close my mouth and regain some composure I said, “oh my god I've time traveled to 1950!” They all stared at me. Ranch man then nominated Ranch woman for chairman, I seconded it and she was elected 3 to 2. That's when Mormon man said he would be secretary. Ranch woman said, 'ok, since no one else is volunteering you can be secretary.' (Uhh, was that a nomination and a vote?) At this point we are suppose to have a straw poll to see where everyone stand before we actually say for whom we will vote. It is already fairly clear with me being the swing vote for either side, as I am the only one who hasn't already said what I think. Of course Mormon man goes first. And I am left for last. I had been kicking the whole Clinton, Obama choice around in my head for weeks, and had decided on Obama. I say Obama and Ranch family glares. Now the next step is discussion to sway people before the actual vote. I say, “I can be swayed if you have information I haven't heard, especially about health care.” So, ranch woman starts telling me how Clinton will be tough on immigration. ....hmm, right cause that'll sway me... NOT! Then Moron man begins to reiterate how emotional women get and says something about how the stress almost made Hillary cry in a press interview. So I say, “yeah, so and when Bill was stressed he got a blow job, who cares?” Well apparently blow job is a bad word. The silence was palatable. Ranch man scowled and said, 'Watch your mouth..” So I quickly recover by saying, “let's just get this shit over with and vote.” “Watch Your MOUTH!”, says Ranch man again. Boy oh boy, I love democracy. We vote. Now I am gonna skip a whole part here about the math skills involved in figuring out how our 5 votes become 3 delegates. But I will say, I probably was a bit harsh to Mormon man the secretary who didn't know how to do math. I harangued him, using my powers for evil, until he snapped and said he had been special ed. in school and really didn't know how to do math. (where upon instead of being compassionate I was evil again) I said, “Well I am sure a woman can handle it.” and I took the paper out of his hands. I thought later about how I played the gender card in relation to his sexism, and realized I am going to need to get a lot smarter on standing up for women, especially when I don't look like one. I left the caucus wondering if the political process was a good thing or a bad thing, wondering if I cared, or if I should take it on. when I got home I told my roommates I didn't want to be a democrat anymore. Deb was kind and persuasive when she recommended rather than me stopping being a democrat, I convince the two of them to become democrats (currently they are independent and green party). Then all 3 of us can go to the next caucus and educate. Deep breath. Educate them. Educate them. It is becoming a mantra.