Last night, my wife and I tried to participate in the Democratic Party caucus in Travis County, in the most consequential Democratic primary in this state, probably ever. To call it a disaster would be to seriously malign the reputation of other disasters. And apparently, we were not alone.
Confusion, chaos and controversy ruled Central Texas’ precinct caucuses Tuesday night.
Precincts struggled with a shortage of sign-up sheets. School gymnasiums, cafeterias and libraries overflowed with voters. Precinct leaders accustomed to turnouts in the dozens were faced with hundreds of people lining up to help choose a presidential candidate on a day when record numbers of Texans had packed polling places statewide.
Many voters were confused. Precinct officials were frazzled. The Austin Police Department was called to one precinct after a confrontation between voters.
Here’s our experience.
My wife (who voted earlier in the day and was making her 2nd trip) and I arrived — per the party’s instructions — prepared to sign in after the voting had ended, then leave. I had left work about an hour early to go vote. We didn’t have a babysitter so we had our two sons (2 and 11 mos.) in tow.
After waiting outside in the cold for about 30-40 minutes, we were moved into the elementary school’s gym. There was no traffic plan. People wandered in and milled around without really knowing what to do or where to go. After about 20 minutes of that, the "announcements" started, which seemed really more like impromptu remarks — but no one had thought to plug in a microphone, so people in the back couldn’t hear, and the instructions had to be repeated — shouted — over and over.
After waiting a while, we were told we had to wait because a rule needed to be clarified. Let me go ahead and repeat that. Hundreds of working people, many of whom have brought small children, are at this point still waiting around while the people running the caucus looked up the rules. Unreal.
After another 15-20 minutes, we were told that we would start the sign-in procedure — that should’ve started as soon as we arrived. But because there was no traffic plan, the guy running the caucus didn’t know who’d come in first, so he randomly picked a side to start signing in. And naturally, he picked the side of the room that had come in last, without really explaining how they were to approach the table. Needless to say, people weren’t thrilled with the injustice of this, so everyone just broke for the tables, creating a gigantic traffic jam.
Oh yeah — and for a gym full of hundreds of people (I’m guessing close to 500, if not more), there were only 2 tables taking signatures. Nice.
At this point, someone finally figures out that a microphone is available and turns it on. We’re now told that we might have to wait ’till after all the signatures are collected, despite what the Travis County Democratic Party had told us all along.
Now, the Obama people start shouting that the Hillary people are challenging the rules and that we’ll have to stay if we want our signature to count. Then a guy gets back on the mic and reads the rules aloud (the rules we all already know) that no, you just have to sign in and then you can leave. But the Obama people keep telling us that we have to stay. It’s never clear exactly who’s right or who’s in charge.
Finally, the babies are totally melting down and there’s still practically no movement in the line. So we just leave in frustration.
The excuses I hear on the way out are astonishing. "We never expected this kind of turnout" was my favorite. Yeah, no one could’ve predicted that a lot of people would show up in the most meaningful Democratic primary in this state’s history, in a year when over one million Democrats voted early. Never saw that one coming!
Here’s how totally clueless our county chair is:
"For all the problems that may be occurring, it’s a good thing," Chris Elliott said. "It’s an incredible thing to watch, and we may never see it again in our lifetimes."
Nice going, Chris. The most significant election in your lifetime and you completely screw it up. And excuse me — it’s not a "good thing" that the caucuses were a total clusterfuck. Elliott needs to do the honorable thing and step down after this debacle. What a disgrace.
Look, this wasn’t some off-year election for county clerk in some tiny little Hill County Town. This is Travis County, the seat of the Democratic party in the 2nd biggest state in the union. And unless we get our shit together as a party, this is the kind of thing that will keep us from winning elections.
And you know what? We’ll deserve to lose them.
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Ouch!
What precinct are you in BT?
That is really depressing. Especially because you and your wife live in a state in which votes really count–or should. Not like here in the District of Columbia.
Exactly.
*sigh* I was reading stories very similar to yours last night on the tubes. I’m sorry that it was such a nightmare process.
My vote here in Florida didn’t count in January, either.
I had a conversation with one of the NYS elections commissioners and he told that he lays awake nights worrying that this will happen in NYS on E Day this fall.
He beleieves that turnout will be so heavy that most of our polling places willbe completley overwhelmed. We are set up for less than 40% turnout. He believes we will exceed 60% and might even hit 80%.
At 40%, we have hour long lines and the shcool gyms we use spill over into hallways. He is trying to get enough momentum to convince the local boards that they have to contract for more an bigger polling sites. This breeds it’s own confusion b/c peole will be accustomed to going to their usual polling place.
THERE IS NO GOOD /EASY ANSWER. Which is why,a mong other reason, the NYS Bar Association is forming it’s first ever election law committee. There has to be more help sorting out the mess. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York has had an election law committee for years, but really doesn’t ahve standing to be trying to work on the whole state’s problems–though we butt in anyway.
I beleive this should be a concern in every state in the union. Local boards of elections (or State Secy’s of State) need to realize that they need much more inthe way of physical plannt this year, much more–and better trained and supervised–staff, and to order MANY MANY MANY more ballots than they possibly believe they will need, cause they WILL need tham
off topic but good news anyway
Melanie Morgan was fired for calling for Bill Keller’s execution
Some of the caucuses went smoothly, I guess it was a matter of where you were. Mine was well run, we had no issues. But participation is always high in this Precinct.
I missed our caucus in WA state because I had been purged off the voter rolls but after hearing this story repeated over and over the past few weeks you would think that someone would pull their head out of their ass and realize it’s going to be this way everywhere and get their shit together.
Story after story of huge turnouts and not enough paperwork, general confusion over what to do and how to accomodate such huge crowds.
HELLO?
People are pissed off!They want to show that anger the only place it really makes a difference, at the polls!
Thank God for mail in ballots here.
Hey BT!
We had some similar problems in my caucus in San Antonio. But they were exacerbated by having four precincts in one location AND having incredibly slow moving voting. The regular voting line was “closed” at 7PM but voting did not end until sometime 10:30-11PM. So folks just sat around and talked. About 8, they let us into the school cafeteria where we grouped pretty much by precinct. The various precinct chairs, without microphones, attempted to keep us somewhat informed of what we could expect. I finally got signed in about 11:30 and left before the voting on things such as resolutions took place as I was just tired.
On the good side, there were 20-25 total Rs across the four precincts and approximately 50-60 Ds in EACH precinct. And my area of San Antonio is fairly strong R. Folks talked. A few politic’d but no one’s minds seemed to be changed but we all got along and looked toward the important election in November.
I didn’t stick around for the final tallies, but the caucus splits seemed to be fairly even between Clinton and Obama across the board and in all demographic areas.
I guess the firing-because-of-budget-woes story was bogus?
Maybe if things are this screwed up the DNC will finally go to a rotating regional primary system.
This overwhelming turnout has been happening in every primary and caucus. There are no more excuses for being unprepared. The general election of 2006 saw this happening in many places. That has given two years for preparations to be made for the general election. Or are people going to do nothing and then echo Condi “Nobody could have anticipated ….” line. It is a perfect set up for more election fraud, but, between the foxes guarding the chicken coops and ineffective Dems, we might not see any changes.
I voted in Williamson county (North Austin). For the same reason you left I didn’t go. I knew (and I have never worked an election) that there was going to be a huge turn out. And I really wanted to go as many folks did for the first time. But I have a little one and I was dinner time for her and I knew she would be hitting bedtime before we were in close to finishing.
The one thing I noticed was that in every election I ever voted in I always wondered how the caucus thing worked and how delegates were chosen, but never knew or looked it up. This was the first time It was explained that you just show up after you vote and the polls close. The poll worker actually asked if I would like to go at the time I voted and she then told me when and where.
It was nice to see both Travis and Williamson County strongly for Obama. (sigh) Oh well, Hillary’s still “snatching defeat from the jaws of those trying to defeat her” . . . or something like that.
Votes in Michigan didn’t count either. Like the Republicans, there are “Democrats” that want to disenfranchise the people for their own political ends. Heard that Republicans were gaming yesterday’s primaries knowing that a contentious primary for the Democrats is in the best interest of the Republican Party. The American public has proven themselves easily bamboozled by a well oil propaganda machine tha the Republican Party has the American public in their crosshairs.
I’m sorry it worked out that way BT. Here in Denton County, we had a similar disorganization. I would guess approximately 350 people waiting to caucus at a small church. The party officials (about 10 people) had to try and deal with it. We had to wait, then mill around, then form vague lines which crossed other lines. All in all, it took about an hour and 45 minutes to sign in (vote). We didn’t stay for election of delegates.
However, I heard the word “marvelous” so often that I thought Fernando Lamas or Billy Cristol must be around. I told my wife that I didn’t think there were any Republican crossovers in the group, because I didn’t see anyone looking nasty, or hear them complaining about inefficiency, waste of money, and use of their valuable time.
I’m very sorry your precinct caucus was so disorganized, BT. This is the opposite of what happened in our precinct – 342. We knew we’d have waaay more people and we had materials accordingly. We are a large precinct that usually gets 20-40 at caucuses and had 728 last night! We still had long lines to sign in, but started with 5 tables and quickly added 3 more.
I went to work the polls for Obama in the morning(see my report to FDL last night which I’ve copied below) and realizing people didn’t know how the caucusing was going to work, I start walking the voting line and totally nonpartisanly educating people. I also told them that even though they needed to be there at 7:15pm because that was the earliest we could open the caucus after the polls closed, that we would likely open the caucus later and to be prepared to wait. once the polls close at 7pm, anyone who’s in line then is allowed to vote. we aren’t allowed to open the caucus til the last person has voted. and if you haven’t arrived at the caucus by the time people have finished signing into the caucus, you arrived too late. those are the rules and i explained them to people so they wouldn’t be upset with the waiting, which i could foresee was going to happen with the long lines. when i left at noon, i trained others with what to say.
i’d emphasized ahead that we’d need a microphone, but that fell thru the cracks and we tried to start without one, but the pricipal of the school was there and quickly got us one.
copied from my last night’s report to fdl thread primary #8, entry #76:
Just home from our Austin caucus in precinct 342 where we had CNN with us all day. 728 people at our democratic caucus in the cafeteria. 30 republicans in the library, all of us at the elementary school in the neighborhood. there are hardly any republicans in this precinct.
my strategy when the polls opened this morning was to explain to people on line for voting that they needed to come caucus because more delegates would get apportioned to their candidate that way. i did it completely non-partisan as i had to, but i figured our precinct was going for obama so the more people who understand why we needed to caucus the better it would work for us. when i left at noon i trained others to take my place for the rest of the day.
normally we get 20 – 40 caucusing for the dems. there were 728 dems tonight! i helped with the tallies with a bunch of obama and clinton folks and a judge. clinton got 34 delegates to the state senatorial district convention and obama got 69. i’m one of the obama delegates. we then split up and the clinton folks went to the library, all 30 republicans having finished quite early.
and i was working also at the caucus having all the people who signed in to caucus and willing to be a delegate or alternate sign up. that way those who didn’t wait for the count could still be added. after the count there were 62 people present who wanted to be delegates, so we don’t have too many we need to add. we’ll try for 69 delegates and 69 alternates. i’ve got a list of about 100 names (some are overlap) of willing obamans that we can fill out our delegation from.
tomorrow i’ll get together with the precinct caucus chair for obama and we’ll start assembling our delegation.
and that’s the report from precinct 342 in austin. skies are clear.
amen!
{{{LHP}}}
Bingo. Please, enough with the “we never saw this coming” bs.
In this house we strongly believe that an Obama/Clinton or a Clinton/Obama ticket, is a sure winner.
Perfect set up for chaos and riots in the streets in November. Good pretext for suspending the election.
I don’t agree; Whoever is on the bottom will receive the kiss of death and their future political career would be over.
When you mention Republicans in the caucas they should be identified as Republican “operatives”. There can be little doubt that Republicans, intoxicated with power, will do whatever to game the system to their advantage.
I’ll tell you this-if Obama wins the delegate count but loses the nomination to Hilary vis-a-vis the superdelegates, you really will see street actions, of a type unseen since ‘68 and ‘72.
A nightmare scenario. That’s why I hated hearing Hillary say she was in “Happy Warrior” mode-that was Humphrey’s nickname in ‘68.
Didn’t work out so well.
No wonder. Chris Elliot was running things. I mean sure, he was hilarious in ‘Cabin Boy’, but from what I remember from that show where he was like 40 years old and still had a paperroute, he isn’t very organized.
If it were to turn out Clinton/Obama as the new president and VP, that would be okay. For Obama is young enough to win eight years after the Clinton term ends. That would be a possible 16 years with no Republicans in the White House. Think about it. Democrats unite, soon.
That Chris Elliot would’ve done a better job.
It’s like the old Will Rogers joke, “I don’t belong to any organized party. I’m a Democrat.” If Reid and Pelosi can’t get their acts together, is it any wonder that all the deadwood in the party further down can’t either?
What would you advise as being the right Demo combination, my friend? ;0)
omg – did hillary really say she’s in “happy warrior” mode? do i need to change my name now?
The battle here is to delete the Republicans from the WH. At least that’s my thinking.
the Chron story gives the economic excuse but it doesn’t make sense. if she is so wonderful wouldn’t you keep someone who brought in an audience and therefore advertisers.
If the national party establishment was not preoccupied with electing
Clinton they might have been of assistance. The pattern of their activity
in my area has for 16 years been to go with whatever the Clintonista
line is. It appears the problems of last night gave Texas to that faction
and they will spin that for a superdelegate grab. No small irony that
the democratic party has an electoral college to ensure the “right”
candidate is “selected”. If that happens, you will have seen the final
death of the democratic party. The republicans will choose our candidate
again and it will be over. Last Call!
I had a totally different experience in my Travis county precinct.
In 2000, 6 people caucused. In 2004 18 people caucused. This year 291 people caucused. We were most fortunate that our caucus was attended (and he was eventually voted to be the Caucus chair) by a person who is employed by the Tx Democratic party and has spent much of his time lately teaching groups how the caucus system works in Texas.
When we got our packet, we formed three lines. One for Clinton, one for Obama and one for people who needed confirmation that they voted in the primary. 4 sign in sheets where being filled in at a time for each of the candidates. The Obama sign in process was being “watched” by a Clinton supporter and the Clinton sign-in process was being “watched” by an Obama supporter. The chair announced the process so that everyone would feel that there were safeguards in place. It took a while for everyone to get verified and signed in. Everyone seemed amazed at the turnout and there were no hard feelings being expressed by anyone as to the delay. There were parents whose small kids were running around and entertaining themselves. Everyone seemed very upbeat.
I think the process of signing in voters took a little over one hour. About 30% of the people left after signing in. Then we had to vote in each camp for delegates to the county convention. This took about a half hour.
After that business was done, we proceeded to review and vote on the propositions (or whatever they are called) put to the precinct caucus. There were about 50 that needed to be voted on. At the beginning of this part of the caucus there were about 15 people remaining. When the last proposition was reviewed, there were 8 of us voting.
We closed up at about 11PM.
Lord, God, I’ve got the day off. And I’m already missing my kids (students). I must really be nuts.
Is it possible to create a thread for all those who want to bitch about hillary?
Last night was like watching Humphrey win West Virginia in 1960. He did
not win WV and we got JFK.
I am bitching about what a clusterfuck the democratic party is or was.
AP – Hillary Rodham Clinton, fresh off a campaign saving comeback, hinted Wednesday at the possibility of sharing the Democratic presidential ticket with Barack Obama — with her at the top. Obama played down his losses, stressing that he still holds the lead in number of delegates.
where in travis are you, wasabi? your experience was very similar to what happened in our precinct.
I think it fairly obvious that my party, (Dems) need to do some house and senate cleaning after winning in November.
What we have to realize is that the Democratic Party in most counties in Texas, for the last couple of decades, has consisted of eight or ten staunch elderly folks who remember Truman and Kennedy. They have met in catecombs and gone through modified Roberts Rules procedures, with little new business and almost nothing in terms of financing. During elections, the election officials came from that small group and they usually ended up as delegates. The official instructions for Texas conventions/caucuses tell you that if you are the only one there, go ahead and conduct the caucus. This was the first primary, since the McGovern reforms, when the Texas primary had any effect on anything. So even though they new the turnout was going to be larger, I don’t think they had any idea how much larger.
GW, let me clarify…someone said it about Hillary-I ca’t find the quote attributed directly to her. Here’s a link..
Happy Warrior mode
Please don’t change your name! *g*
Wasn’t referring to you merk.
I think Obama would make a good VP!
From Lyn Utrecht, Clinton’s Campaign Counsel
Re: Caucus Irregularities
1. Numerous calls have shown that Obama supporters prematurely removed convention packets from polling places. Packets may not legally given out until 7:15 PM or when the last voter has cast a ballot in the primary. The Texas State Party warned the Obama campaign in writing that they may not take these packets early or remove them from the polling locations. The Party directed that these irregularities be reported to law enforcement “since they amount to criminal violations.” The Party stated “removing convention packets . . . will not be tolerated.”
2. Numerous calls have been received that the Obama campaign has taken over caucus sites and locked the doors, excluding Clinton campaign supporters from participating in the caucus. The Clinton supporters have been unable to enter the premises to caucus. In at least one instance, law enforcement was called and forcibly opened the caucus site.
3. There are numerous instances of Obama supporters filing out precinct convention sign-in sheets during the day and submitting them as completed vote totals at caucus. This is expressly against the rules. The sign-in sheets were copied by the Obama campaign from the Texas Democratic Party website and taken by supporters to various polling places to sign-up caucus goers prior to the start of the caucuses.
Source: http://www.taylormarsh.com/arc…..p?id=27155
I’m in 302. It’s southwest Austin next to the Hays county line.
I think this kind of catastrophizing is a little premature.
If Hillary wins the delegate count in Texas, it will be extremely close.
She is still behind in delegates.
The super-delegates appear to be trending towards Obama.
LHP,
I live in NJ and when I was a kid, I remember having off from school for the big Presidential elections b/c they used our schools a polling places. I don’t recall if that happened in NYC or NYS. Do you think it’s possible that they’d close the schools to avoid the huge disruption it will obviously cause? That might be one way to help with the crowds? I’m not sure.
AP – Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain has a lunch date Wednesday with President Bush at the White House — and the promise of a Bush endorsement.
It sounds like I was at the same precinct, 367?
I think Hillary would too.
I guess I took my cue from CTuttle reporting from Hawaii that there were 10 times the number at his precinct. And we had a lot more materials ready than that and needed them!
The best part is that he wants it.
If HRC wins, I am still wondering what role Large Dog will play.
1,777 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Blue Texan and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
“…this is the kind of thing that will keep us from winning elections.”
Absolutely right fuckin’ on…I feel ya Blue Texan. I been tryin’ ta get back into local Dem politics here at the county level since my less than positive experience in the 2004 election and it’s been really tough havin’ ta spend all our time and energy tryin’ ta clean out the dead wood while gettin’ the old (and the new) discouraged Dems back into it.
That’s why I’m so invested in Howard Dean, the DNC and the Obama campaign…it’s the political version of tryin’ ta decentralize corporate capitalism by creatin’ micro economies that gemstone out into a nation. And that’s really what the brand of democracy that the founders gave us, local, involved and unafraid.
I hope you folks in Texas ken get the mess straightened out down there…’cuz I think you folks have a chance ta turn Texas a deep blue this fall. Let’s all channel Ralph Yarborough!!
KEEP THE FAITH AND DON’T QUIT!!
Chris Elliott’s Fox TV show was “Get a Life”. It was truly great.
ClintonObama
ObamaClinton
(note – this is the reverse order as last night)
I wouldn’t call it the “Dream Ticket” but I do not see any other option for the Dems at this point.
And it needs to happen before the circular firing squad reloads to be effective.
thanks, sounds like y’all had stellar organization in place.
Could be, could be…I just remember it so well. Obama is frequently, and justly, compared to JFK, but has also always reminded me a bit of Gene McCarthy, with his outreach to the young, disaffected, and anti-war voters….and the Party functionaries were willing to destroy the Party to save it from McCarthy.
I don’t know that their priorities have changed.
If it were only her problem I would not care, but could easily be the
weakest part of her national campaign, she a beard for his 3rd term.
I would love to delete the DLC.
I have two major problems with the Clintons. Iraq and the DLC.
I caucused in Travis County last night too, and everything went really smoothly considering the hordes of people (yes, including small children) who turned out. It was reasonably fast and painless; even though there were incredibly long lines, it seemed well organized, nobody was locked out, and nobody seemed interested in doing anything illegal. The only problem was that it was hard to hear once we hit the actual choosing delegates part; I didn’t stay long for that, as I didn’t know anyone running for delegate; maybe they found a mic after I left.
The fun part was seeing our huge and diverse crowd (male, female, old, young, mixed races) compared to the Republicans. I only saw five white males waiting for their caucus, but of course there may have been more hidden somewhere.
McCain long ago sold his soul to the Bush family. Kissing the ring is expected, as is the choice of Jeb as VP.
Our folks did a good job of improvising order. I think most people sort of enjoyed it and all the comments were to the effect that, “I had no idea there were so many Democrats in this area.”
The DLC will smash Obama or anyone to save their sandbox.
Be interesting to see how the MSM plays this WH meeting. McCain is the darling of the media.
Getting rid of Austan Goolsbee would be a start.
This is what comes of people not participating in party politics for decades. The local party becomes a club that puts together a slate and tries to bring out the vote very four years. It is the same in my riding in Montreal, where I have worked in local elections driving people to the polls. They know how to do one thing — which is what they did thirty years ago. Howard Dean’s revolution is going to take time to achieve. If we are going to have a bottom-up Democratic Party — as contrasted with the corporate management model adopted by the Republicans–we are going to have to be involved in local precinct work on a continuing basis. There is no Democracy on the cheap.
me likey
And where will Joe Lieberman fit, if at all, into a Clinton Administration? Or for that matter, a McCain group?
Surely to god the choice of Jeb as VP would be the kiss of death to his campaign? Or am I giving too much credit to the electorate?
This seeming fact blows me away.
They better not. I will never ever give them another penny. For the last two years I’ve given to Blue America candidates only. IMO the DLC is a symbol of what is wrong with our Party.
He is already the offical mascot of the DLC and McCain… only a kiss
away.
Giving far too much credit. If they voted for a failed presidency in 2004 there is little reason to believe that they wouldn’t do it again. Far to many voters in America are easily manipulated by the GOP and their MSM allies.
You’re not giving enough credit to Dibold.
Even tho Hillary has won the overall primary, Obama is, so far, winning the caucuses and by the time it’s all over with the state convention June 7, I’m guessing Obama comes out with more delegates from the primary and state caucus combined than Clinton. I’m not guess what the superdelegates will do. They’re only 12 out of 228.
I don’t have a sense of whether yesterday was the critical event in deciding the Democratic nominee. WAS it critical? Is Hillary the nominee?
That’s my thought, too. It would do a lot to dissipate the strong feelings that have run up in this campaign. It’s also how they do things in parliamentary democracies. Given the increasing centralization of our political life — due mainly to modern communications and the mobility of the American people — it seems to me inevitable that we adopt some of the conventions of that style of government. The thugs did it early — which is why Congress was a rubber stamp. I don’t think we should go that far, but it is certainly the future.
that’s a GREAT idea. they could always add a day somewhere else, like they do for snow days.
Hey, Blue Texan, what precinct?
ron – here’s a different take from someone who is also a supporter of obama:
1,777 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Mack and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
No, dear, not another Clinton anywhere near the White House for the next 50 years!! We’ll lose the last moment we have to create a real 2-party system, that exposes the conservative party as the party of wealth and the corporations. No, Citizen Mack, the Clintons are corporatist shills for Rupert Murdock and the corporate oligarchy…if you like the DLC then you’ll LOVE the Democratic Party run by the Clintons.
This nomination and election is about killin’ the beast or bein’ eatin’ in the process…and make no mistake about it, the Clintons represent the beast of the corporate oligarchy.
KEEP THE FAITH, THERE IS NO COMPROMISIN’ WITH FASCISTS!!
The DLC was founded by Bill Clinton to do just what you see happening,
eleminate grass roots politics, keep the corporado cult happy.
Good gawd, this Obama-Hillary business is intense.
I,m not sure Obama can win Ohio because of the race issue.
hey Blue Texan:
Good to be back after Paris and London. At Cincinnati airport, where we flew in from Paris to make connections to Paris, we missed our flight because clearing US Immigration and Customs took longer that usual–anyway I changed 10 euros and got back 14 US dollars! And they are supposed to be at parity. Sad state of things, thanks to Chimpy…
Here are the options. Obama, Clinton or McCain. You choose.
I truly believe Jeb will sit this one out. Whoever does win this year is going to have to clean up a mell of a hess, and if it doesn’t work, Jeb tries to ride in on a white horse in ‘12. IMHO.
BTW, thanks, selise. I need to try and digest that for a bit.
Fixin to get intenser.
that’s good to hear. LOL – 5 white males and maybe some hiding.
See my 2, it’s classified. Perhaps it is a breach of etiquette to make that inquiry of a poster?
oh no! why did you have to say that before breakfast?
Hi BT. I also caucused last night in Travis, and ours was run only marginally better. Fortunately, the person giving me a ride had the foresight to get us there 45 minutes early so we did all our waiting INSIDE the gym. But the election officials were equally moronic and unprepared. The traffic flow they finally settled on did not include room for my wheelchair to get through, so I ended up cutting the line.
I wrote about my experiences here.
That’s my guess also.
I was a Precinct Captain for the Obama Campaign here in The Woodlands, Texas, a huge Republican stronghold. Our caucus ran smoothly, however, my precinct is also the same building where Early Voting is held and a lot of people showed up thinking they could caucus there, but couldn’t. We weeded those out ASAP so that they could get to their correct precincts. The last person on the sign in sheet – we had to turn her away – she was in the wrong pct, had just moved here and because the polls were closed, we could not verify what precinct she should be in. I just happened to see her going out the door and she was crying. I can’t tell you how bad I feel about that this morning. Looking back, I should have asked her to stay, but tell her that her vote wouldn’t count. Sorry, but I had been up since 4:30 am and it was close to 8pm. I was not thinking clearly.
BTW, Obama clearly won our county in delegates.
However, a number of people showed up during the day to vote for Hillary, based on Rush’s recommendation. Once they realized they had to come back and caucus for her, they realized that they had wasted their vote. If she is the nominee, I’ll vote for her, but I must say that our Woodlanders for Obama group, most have said they will vote for McCain, if Hillary wins the nomination. That really upsets me. I called the DNC this morning and talked to someone – you could tell they were just reading from some script concerning their neutrality.
As far as Rush Limbaugh is concerned, I wish nothing good for him and I really mean that. He is the Karl Rove of the airways.
I think the most important option is NOT McCain.
The republicans have been ordered to vote in the democratic primaries
by Rush Limbaugh and Coultergeist, HRC is their chosen opponent for the
fall… I would like a chance to choose our own.
thanks for being so open to a different view.
(just as a disclaimer – i don’t know who i think would make the best president)
Given the nature of the political system and the amount of money it takes to mount a presidential campaign, I don’t think it is possible for a “transformative progressive” to become president.
yes, that’s similar to my experience. people were good-natured about it and the kids seemed to be mostly enjoying themselves as well. when i was talking to voters at the polls in the morning and explaining what would happen, including a probable wait, some of the couples decided to have one home with the children and another go to caucus.
that is my choice as well.
According to Pumpkinhead this morn, Obama will lose Pennsylvania
somewhere at 52-47% (he had a copy of an internal Obama projection).
The more I tnink about it, at some point, the two candidates will unite
and beat the low-talking, “my friends” McCain…
Assuredly.
OT via TPM
Good to see that Harry Reid is taking care of business as usual. I just wish it was ours and not the Republicans’.
wow can you picture that scene? bush’s blackwater and secret service arrayed against the local vermont sheriff is what immediately pops into my mind. and, the more of us that follow vermont, the happier i’ll be.
Good Morning Blue Texan,
so very sorry to hear about your family’s experience, Mr Elliot sounds rather Rahmish if you ask me
by comparison Williamson County Chair Richard Torres did a great job in anticipating the county going Dem – lots of 411, workers, contingency site plans etc.
despite the morning’s fuzzy picture, personally I was out of my mind to see 387 Dems meetin’ and greetin’ at the two Hutto caucus sites, many will go on to become fired up Dem activists, esp now that they know there’s safety in numbers ( I couldn’t get 40 of ‘em together for a labor sponsored gig 18 mos ago)
- a local, inexperienced Dem rec’d 12,000 more votes than DeLay’s Monkey Boy John Carter
- Bell County (waving to megpiepie) home to huge military personnel/military family contingent at Fort Hood went Dem by 20+ %
Good thing we’ve still got politics in Texas – finest form of free entertainment ever invented.
Molly Ivins
You are quite right, my friend. I think.
I got up at 2am to post the exact same thoughts. Clinton /Obama
I still dont like her but think she can win.
The big demographic against Obama are Catholic women-CNN.
good point. at least not unless we can build a massive social movement to back up electoral political work.
… but as i keep reminding myself… nixon gave us the epa and osha. that gives me hope that we don’t have to elect the perfect candidate to get some good legislation.
I can’t believe Molly Ivins is gone. Lord I was crazy, for that woman’s brain.
They wouldn’t stand a chance in Georgia!
Good morning, BT-sorry to hear about your experience.
Here’s my question: are we starting to hear a meme that the more fucked up something is the more “good” it is? It started with Brownie and the superb job business, then Rummy, now we hear that GOP sex scandals and a total clusterfuck D primary are actually “good things.” That kind of spin needs to be stopped dead in its tracks.
It’s like Bushworld has poisoned everything and objective reality just does not exist anymore, for anybody (even some Democrats).
Did CNN say why they think this?
Blue Texan,
Sounds to me like I was at the same caucus.
Sorry that you are so pissed. I was there. I was the guy who showed them
how to turn on the microphone.
My wife and I were there, we got a babysitter.
My impression isn’t nearly as harsh as yours. Sure, it took a little while
to get going, but not that bad.
We stayed all the way to the selection of delegates and got home by 930 PM.
Not such a big sacrifice to participate “in the most consequential Democratic primary in this state”.
Just a question – if the 2 Dem candidates bring up and deal with the ‘weak spots’ in each other, does that mean that they have defused those weak spots so McCain can’t get much out of them, or just make it easier for him to attack?
A-MEN!! We love us some Molly Ivins too i this household.
I agree. A decent manager can do some good things – simple competence has a lot going for it.
No way.
Hillary ain’t gonna take second spot. And, Obama is to give up the power and perks of the Senate for VP?
I don’t see it.
Crude oil is back over $101/bbl this morning. I really think that hedge funds should be outlawed.
man, I know this goes against common perpective here at the lake but I think the most beatable ticket we could possibly come up with is a combination hillary/obama
sorry, I think they are energized against each and each energizes a differant group, of course there are overlaps but never the less, the two combined will bring them out against us more then any other ticket
if it’s obama I think he needs to pick edwards, if it’s hillary, sad to say I think she needs to pick obama even though I think it becomes a beatable ticket
man oh man, if we loose we will be able to thank ourselves
have i told you that i love to read your posts?
yea, and LBJ got how many kids killed, but he passed legislation. . .no thanks
nixon gave us the epa and osha
and that arch liberal Ronald Reagan gave us Dr King’s Birthday, Immigration Amnesty, Americans With Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act
disclaimer: some weren’t signed into law until that latte sipping pantywaist Quayle was in office *g*
Great state, Texas. I liked it better when it was a republic.
and her sense of humor.
when i decided to move to TX from CA, i was worried about what it would be like. then friends gave me her book “Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?’ after the first chapter, i knew TX was going to be ok.
Just emailed the DNC for all the good it will do. Told Gov. Dean to get his and the party’s shit together. When a Democratic Party presidential candidate attempts to marginalize another Democratice Party presidential candidate using Republican terror tactics, it’s time to illuminate the disloyalty and serve consequences upon said candidate.
Sleeping with the enemy shouldn’t be the Democratic Party status quo.
My Harris County precinct was quite a mess… three precincts in one location. Our precinct had a spineless temporary chair who was NOT following the rules. Me and another attorney broke in and had to make them follow the process as closely as we could with no sign in sheets and such.
I printed out a copy of the convention rules and processes from the TDP on a lark – those rules were dog-eared in short order.
They had the exit poll numbers for the states broken down, HRC had over
60% of the demographic and it went up by age. It is a very large and
voter active group… no deeper analysis was offered.
Go Texas
Hi Alicia! It depends on the severity of the attack. The candidate who successfully defuses the issue in the primary is immunized, while an attack that sticks will carry over-the model is Jerry Brown in ‘92, who first raised the issue of Bill, Hillary, and Rose Law.
That didn’t go away immediately.
Did you hear Huckleberry goin on and on about the Alamo?
I am hoping whichever candidate wins the primaries refuses to run as vice president but will campaign for the other.
I hope obama refuses but makes it clear the spot was offered and he refused, then goes on to campaign for the hill
same thing with hilary
the last thing I want to see is the both of them running in the general
Hillary can win big blue states. Obama out spent her 3 or 4 to 1 in TX and OH, the media loves him, he had momentum and he still could not closed the deal. Red caucus states that favored Obama have not voted democratic since the 1960’s and they won’t in the GE. The race will continue to the convention. The DNC will seat the MI and FL delegates or risk losing the election and since neither candidate will win 2025 pledged delegates going into the convention, the super delegates will pick the most electable candidate. As Ohio goes, so goes the country. Time is on Hillary’s side. The genie is out of the bottle for the media to finally scrutinize Obama. It will be difficult to go soft on him again. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who worked her heart out for Hillary and would help win the AA vote or Wes Clark who helped her get endorsements from 33 flag ship officers, would be a great VP picks for Hillary. What do you think?
So spending 2-3 hours voting is insufficient sacrifice for you? I guess it’s too much too ask to have the caucus planned and organized and properly staffed.
Glad you were able to get a babysitter. Should it cost people money to participate in their local party’s elections?
I don’t think so.
O/T, Breaking:
WASHINGTON [AP, MSNBC] – FBI Director Robert Mueller says an internal Justice Department report has found more improper use of national security letters by FBI agents seeking personal data on Americans during terror and spy investigations.
Check back for updates on this breaking news story…
__________
I am shocked, shocked.
One of the things they both better decide how to deal with right now is how to answer McCain’s use of the “wave the white flag of surrender” charge.
That’s NOT going to go away, and is potentially devastating.
Are you channeling Howard Wolfson and Mark Penn or are you one of them?
The other issue for Texas families last night is that the TAKS test is today, the big one for passing from one grade to the next, so many families needed to get home and get the kids to bed.
If you could crossbreed him with Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, what
would you have?
Anyone know why results for the caucuses are still sitting at 36% of precincts reporting?
All of that warms my heart. Including the Molly Ivins quote.
How could a former aide to the Tipster become a Repug?
He sold his soul for forty pieces of media shit, and now thinks he
“knows” Pennsylvania politics.
He was absolutely disgusting last night, and Tweety should be replaced
by Shuster…
{End of rant}
Thanks, my homie! I just really hate seeing Democrats fight, even though I know it has to happen, I suppose. I am so filled with loathing over what the Bush Admnistration and its Republican henchmen have done to this country that it’s difficult to get all riled about various Dem pecadillos.
good on ya then!
oops – make that peccadillos
the answer will be to attack the war monguers and make it clear this is NOT america’s war this is BUSH’S war.
make it CLEAR the war is over and what is left needs to be done by diplomats, our armed forces are NOT an occupying force, they are NOT the private police of the Iraqi’s, they are NOT painters of schools
they are NOT the escorts of haliburton
they are the STATES resources, they need to be rewarded for accomplishing their mission and they need to be brought home to their families
THAT’S the way the democrats need to address the issue
You speak for me here as well.
Thank you. Sorry to offend.
Yep. Texas is okay. And so is OK. We love us some Texans. ;0)
we’re still considering the matter of loving okies.
Hey, lowdowndog… maybe it’s time for the press to do a little better scrutiny of all the candidates, hmmmmmm? Like those First Lady records to back up her experience claim, for one?
Prairie Today: History Lesson and Show Me the Paper
Texas ain’t nuthin but baja oklahoma.
lol!
Texas March 4, 2008
Clinton 1,452,776
Obama 1,354,553
Total 2,807,329
McCain 707,622
Huckabee 521,951
Paul 69,824
Uncommitted 17,611
Total 1,317,008
Difference 1,490,321 more Dem’s voting
……………………………..
Ohio March 4, 2008
Clinton 1,203,924
Obama 976,368
Total 2,180,292
McCain 632,575
Huckabee 323,074
Paul 48,742
Total 1,004,391
Difference 1,175,901 more Dems voting
………………………………………………………………..
Vermont March 4, 2008
Obama 85,104
Clinton 54,780
Totals 139,884
McCain 27,173
Huckabee 5,138
Paul 2,423
Totals 34,734
Difference 105,150 more Dems voting
……………………………………………………………….
Rhode Island
Clinton 106,471
Obama 73,609
Uncommitted 1,012
Total 181,092
McCain 17,342
Huckabee 5,766
Paul 1,761
Uncommitted 565
Total 25,434
Difference 155,658 more Dem’s voting
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Total Votes of all 4 Primaries Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont March 4, 2008
5,308,597 Dem’s voted
2,381,567 Rep’s Voted
2,927,030 more Democrates came out to vote
The Dem’s smeared the Repub’s yesterday! Hope this trend continues into the general election.
That’s more than 100% of the Dem’s that showed up to vote than the GOP.
Now ya’ll settle down there, in Baja Oklahoma. ;0)
**Hands clapping wildly!!** Awesome good work and foresight on your part. Any chance you’ll take an even more active role in your precinct and county dem politics as we head into election season?
Off on the business of the Queen. See everyone later.
I don’t think Obama has represented himself as a progressive, especially with respect to economics. His economic advisory team of Austan Goolsbee, Jeffrey Liebman and David Cutler, I think reflects Obama’s economic views.
No, it shouldn’t cost money. You’re right.
But I was encouraged greatly to see so many people out voting for democrats.
that’s for the primaries where most don’t care who runs on their ticket
we do care who runs on our ticket
in the general we might see a closer number…I am hoping not but we might
good numbers though and they give me hope their might be too many voters for the elections to be stolen
snowbird42 says-
”I,m not sure Obama can win Ohio because of the race issue.”
i repeat, a lot of ohio is CONSERVATIVE, race has nothing to do with it……….
i know a LOT of hillary supporters, they hate obama, and no they aren’t racist, they just don’t agree WITH YOU about obama, for good sound intelligent reasons, they vote what they think, according to the issues, too, just like you.
there are a few of you that keep throwing out the ’ohio is racist’ crap and it REALLY offends me.
i wrote a reaction to it last night, it really pissed me off, and still does.
aren’t you from tennessee? want me to start throwin’ that ’racist’ comment your way?
didn’t think so, so, i wish you all would cut it out.
At my precinct, they seemed to think that the “no starting until 7:15″ piece included “no thinking” and “no planning” until 7:15. Would it have been against the rules for them to settle on a traffic pattern and move the cafeteria tables into place before then?
In this family, we have family all through the Lone Star State. And we love Texas. And you see a huge bunch of Texas license plates here in Oklahoma. And we like it that way. Fact of the matter is, one of my Pick-ups sports a Texas plate.
Yeah, that’s great. No doubt.
Look — we were willing to wait because of the crowds. Totally fine. What should be unacceptable to everyone is the total lack of organization. Nothing good comes of that.
Obama and HRC were spending what, a million dollars a day getting people to vote, then they can’t vote? That’s more than a little ridiculous.
Thank you.
LOL. I love how your humor takes me by surprise.
it’s actually better than that for me – one of my Friday regulars is the Republic County Chair – more ice tea with that crow Bubba ?
am thinking I’ll put together a gag gift – What’s The Matter With Hutto ? by I.B. Frank
thank you!
if he’s been a friend of yours for a while i’m guessing he’ll love it.
Texas turnout:
State elections officials say about 3.7 million Texans — or about 29 percent of the state’s registered voters — had cast ballots with about 85 percent of precincts reported. The state’s previous turnout record was 2.7 million set in 1988.
Re : turnout in NYC & NYS
Out here in the sticks, turnout is ~80% in off-yr , & ~90-95% in presidential years . I’d guess 99+% this year . Even in the county as a whole , (including the City of Binghamton) , it’s been as high as 94% (’84) . For most places, it won’t likely be a problem . Of course , if NYC is a problem, it’s a huge problem .
As for Texas, did you import the FLA/butterfly ballot crowd? What a mess .
OT , saw an amusing political float last night , turning on to I88E , headed for somewhere (Vermont?) . It was a life-size McCain effigy , his photo made into the face , doing a reprise of Slim Pickens’ ICBM ride , on a ~20′ stuffed cloth missile . The poster/slogan in front of the car was a map of Iran with “Not Another War”.
I’m not amember of any organized political party.I’m a Democrat” .- Will Rogers
Why does seem to always hold true? Maybe some REthoritarians should be hired to run Demo caucuses. :)
agreed.
except for the bit about nafta.
BT,
You may be right about Travis County. However, attendance and paticipation in Democratic Party activities is voluntary. In most cases the participants are few and staunch. Nothing prevented any of us from going to work with them at an earlier date and helping to ensure a better organization.
I understand your irritation, but, at least for most of Texas, hate to see the few really staunch Democrats stuck with blame. My brother is one in Kerville and it has been a real drain on him trying to do what needed to be done because no one else would.
I’m not so mad about the disorganization (I still don’t think it was all that bad). The caucus I attended created a line for those with disabilities and children to help expedite the process.
I think that after reading your post, I regret not thanking the poor schmucks who did all the work last night.
I’ll stop bothering you now, and go pull my head out of my…
They can reply with the hundred year war devastating our economy even more than it already is if that’s even possible.
Goolsbee, who got into NAFTA hot water, is a freetrader.
To leave Iraq is NOT surrendering. We completed our objective there. We went in because of WMD, chemical weapons, and more importantly, we went in because we were told they had connections with 911 & Bin Laden and there was none. We were not into nation building so we should leave.
Of course, the fact that Cheney wanted a foot in OPEC and didn’t get it is why they want to stay. They are not going to let you in OPEC Cheney, get over it.
I am so glad Mi does not caucus. Long lines, bad weather, running out of ballots are bad enough, but to have to go back to caucus & be there for hours just makes the process more difficult than it should be, IMO.
Well, if that’s the case, and the results are these, don’t you think that needs to change?
I think so too.. I wonder what would have to happen to make that a reality? Would it be up to the mayors or governors? How can we mobilize behinds something like this?
Over 200 people showed up to our caucus, and they had us standing out in the cold for over an hour while they packed up equipment and figured out what they were going to do. Some time after 8 they finally opened the doors and let people slowly enter. By 8:30, my husband had to give up and leave because the kid needed to get to bed for school tomorrow, but I stayed in line, determined to get my name down. I finally got to sign in and leave around 9 pm.
I also live in WA and did participate in the caucus. Ours was slightly disorganized due to a huge crowd, but we all hung in there and worked it out. By the time we voted, we have been shuffled to three differents rooms to accomodate our huge crowd. Democracy is messy and mostly run by dedicated local volunteers at the state level. You cannot expect flawless order when something only takes place every four years and many of the organizers are first timers. Be thankful that people are willing to give their time and effort to make this all happen. And, of course, you can always count on a few jerks to show up and be a cog in the wheel. In the end, we counted our votes, picked our delegates and went home. It was democracy at the purest level and that is a good thing. Personally, I like the caucus system because it attracts “informed” people and there are no voting machines. I think caucuses give us a more informed result which is good for the country.
they’d have to give us all the day off then! Not that i’d mind… election day should be a holiday!
No, it should cost “Businesses” How about a national holiday for the second Tuesday in November? I voted around 2:oopm as I work a night shift and I was in and out in 15 minutes. I went by the polling place at 7:oopm on my way to work and cars were lined up on both sides of the street for at least two blocks. Is there a day in our holiday collection more important than election day? Let’s give up Memorial Day or Vetrans day with the excuse that there would be less dead men and women to memoralize if we nationalized election day so every one could vote!!
Agreed, it should be a national holiday.
And you believe what is written on that web site?
Damn, someone is grumpy! My caucus in San Antonio was a clusterfuck too, and my precint had to caucus outside with flashlights in the “cold” (it was really only a little bit crisp). But it was still kinda fun.
Maybe next time you just *know* the most important Texas primary election of eternity is coming up because a million people had voted early, you could take the day off and pitch in. Those people running the caucuses were working people too. They are not professional precinct captains, or whatever their titles are. Did you expect them to recruit and train enough volunteers right there on the spot with hundreds of impatient voters breathing down their necks?
I’ve never had to wait more than 15 minutes to vote in my life and I spent over 5 hours voting last night. I *knew* it was going to be swamped and a long long affair, so I brought a jacket and left the attitude at home.
It’s still not too late to help get ready and pitch in for November. Cuz I can tell you that’s gonna be ugly too for anyone who doesn’t vote early. Don’t leave that one up to a half dozen octogenarians from the senior citizen’s home.