My SUPERB Tuesday! Voting & Caucusing alongside Angsty Art Kids.

in the end I voted for Obama and I feel good about it. He was the only one who truly evoked any sparks at all from me and I think that says something.
so I voted and Handsome Randy voted too.

HR went home and I stuck around for the Caucus portion of the night. This was a pretty good time & quite entertaining for the most part.

Smack dab in the middle of our voting precinct (& a mere block away from our house) lies Minneapolis College of Art and Design thus the line to vote and the caucus itself was chalked full of uber hip art students who had a bone to pick. Unfortunately for our dry witted, fifty-comething precinct chair, a middle aged white man such as himself was just what they were looking for. They pounced, but I'm pretty sure he laughed.

The voting ended and the caucus convened and all was good with some funny moments until the district convention delegates were elected. For those unfamiliar, this is Step One to becoming a Delegate at the DFL National Convention during the summer. At the district convention a delegate may choose to run for delagate-ship(?) for the state convention and at that event one can choose to run for delegation for the National Convention. The state convention is also where our DFL Senate candidate is ultimately endorsed and chosen. This is a big year for Senate and the DFL in MN. Republican Senator Norm Coleman is up for re-election after winning in 2002 in the wake of DFL Senator Paul Wellstone's untimely death only days before the election.

Needless to say, tensions were high at the old precinct caucus.

Over 600 people showed up to vote (awesome!!) which made for a very long wait in line (we waited over an hour) and many of those who actually stayed for the caucus were frustrated and not understanding why they didn't have the chance to vote for Senate as well as Presidential.

So, at the Caucus...
Our Precinct Chair announces that it's time to elect 62 delegates to send to the District Convention. In the agenda that he kindly provided to all of us it states what happens at said convention, quite clearly. Only 55 people want to go; everyone wins and are invited to sign up in the back of the room. A 10 minute break ensues and the art students talk amongst themsleves and are annoyed with our precinct chair's wit, but whatever, he knows the drill of a caucus and wants to get the show on the road afterall it's after 9pm and a lot people have been here for hours.

The Caucus reconvenes and just as Mr. Precinct Chair is about to motion to the next item a crabby art student raises his hand. When called upon he stands and is visibly shaking with anger, "Man, I feel a little betrayed here. I thought I was going to get to vote for my Senate candidate, the person I handed my ballot to said I would get to if I stayed to caucus,"
"I'm sorry," says Precinct Chair, "but that happens at the District Convention," he then goes on to apologize for the chaos and misinformation that happened while ballots were cast and then went on to explain the process outlined above. Meanwhile crabby art guy is becoming more and more angry and a guy in the back joins in by suggesting that everyone who signed up to be a delegate state which Senate Candidate their supporting so he can make sure his interests are represented. Okay, what?!

A thirty minute discussion/debate/whine session follows with our fantastic precinct Chairman entertaining all of the notions with a wry smile on his face. I was ready to get the F out of there. And I would have, but I needed be elected to be a City Delegate so I could endorse school board candidates (my aunt, Jill Davis is running and I have to be at that one to help endorse her). So I endured and sighed a lot exchanging glances with Precinct Chairman who smiled wider with understanding at each look.

In the end he tabled the discussion so the talliers could re-count the delegates signed up and moved to elect City Delegates. The motion was granted. He then asked for a show of hands of those who wanted to be elected to delegate at the City Convention.

My hand was the only one in the air.

xoxx