|
First off, I agree that it is a crappy system - we are in agreement on that -so I offer this as a personal experience, not argument.
So sorry to hear of the people collapsing!
In my precinct in a blue collar area of East Fort Worth, most were older and retired (about 60%) and ALL were working class, as far as I could tell.
How loud they were had NOTHING to do with their vote count - only made it harder to communicate.
How ORGANIZED they were had nothing to do with how the votes counted - only in how long it took.
If they could have been better informed and prepared, (and more quiet and patient) it would have ended in HALF the time, but the VOTE COUNT would have been the same. EXACTLY.
People lined up (we made one line for Clinton, and one for Obama) and show their vote card or other ID (which took longer to cross check, hence the value of preparation) and then they put down who they prefer. We told them to stay if they wanted to be a delegate, or they could leave otherwise if they wished. I got some folks from both camps to watch the counting and double check, because as democrats, we believe in fair counting above all.
Luckily, enough stayed to be delegates - Clinton had 9 and Obama 3.
If they had been louder, the numbers would not have changed.
The only thing that would hve changed is my already splitting headache!
I gave up my chair to a Clinton supporter (I am for Obama) so we would have one person on each side as chair and secretary, but still helped, and advised the chair in the rules to the best of my ability. We worked just fine together! I gave chairs to elderly and tried to allow them to go to the front , (with permission from others) and generally tried to make chaos and near riot into a fair and smooth process.
Once the Obama line went down, I took the mothers with children and elderly to the front of that line.
I understand your anger, and even share it - the election workers messed up big time, and the lack of organization was epidemic. But don't put that on any side, of make it a class thing or a noisy side thing. In a REAL caucus there can be more "convincing" but this was not like that - just getting them to be patient while folks were signing up was the challenge.
In my case,
The Obama supporters were patient in their line, there were only 15, so maybe that mattered?
In the Clinton line, there were a group of 8-10 or so cranky Hillary supporters, out of 50. They would occasionally shout "how much longer?!" The rest were quite polite. I passed on info down the line, as by this time my voice was going.
Anomalies:
The election judge gave Ms Prophet only half of the required packet, and it took awhile to get the rest, with the all important forms - and this really pissed off some in the line. (I tried to get them to sit in the bleachers, but they insisted on lining up. Again, attitude!)
One older guy was talking about "the Muslim" and looking at the Obama supporters suspiciously- one lady (I think it was the first guys wife) shook her fist at me, while we were still waiting for missing part of the packet, claiming I was just like a Republican, trying to steal their votes. I went down the line and told her that we were waiting on the proper paperwork, - that I came here only to vote, just like her - and offered to trade places if she wished. She did not. I told here that we would work together for a fair vote, both sides watching - and she could watch and maybe be a delegate. She just scowled and mumbled something. Maybe she thought I was a muslim? They were with a group of 6 feisty retiree "bubbas" and were kind of their own little "gang"- for a sec, I thought they might be some of the "Rush Limbaugh crossovers" because MOST of the folks were quite lovely. We had some interesting talk before the thing started.
The people that stayed to be delegates - 9 Clinton and 7 Obama, were ALL very nice, and we laughed about the chaos, and how we could all be delegates or alts(3 delegates/3 alts,in the Obama case) because everyone else just left. We also recognized each other from the library and so on. At that point "sides" did not matter. We were doing our public duty, and just relieved that is was almost over.
BIG props for our Clinton voting buddy. She helped us out in a crowd where 2 DUers for Obama were the ONLY ones there who had read up on the process, and we worked TOGETHER for democracy! We filled out the final paperwork together and then gave her a ride home afterward, and told her to give us a call if she needed a ride to the convention.
We all agreed that a simple primary would be SO much easier, as well as better dates for regional primaries, that the electoral college sucks and other byzantine structures should be revisited as to their worth in today's reality. So you are right about it being rough, though the VOTE COUNT was all above board and mutually agreed upon.
Aside from the impatient ones, we all got along fine - but no one had ever been to a caucus before, or at least for years - and that lack of knowledge made it more unwieldly than it needed to be, even under the current rules. Overall, it took 3 hours, and should have taken half that. Because of the chaos, sure - but also because of age, and the time it took to fill out the info, etc.
I would GLADLY vote for a better and simpler system!
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(46 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
