So, on February 5, 2008 I participated in the caucus for my precinct for the first time ever. What a complete joke. It was chaos from the start. There was no preparation for the people who forgot which precinct they were in (meaning, no list of people and the precincts). Not very many people received precinct cards and were really uncertain about what to do. Once I finally found my precinct, I had to stand in line forever while they made us fill out 3 different papers. I had to fill in a straw poll, and I didn’t want my vote on paper, so I wrote uncommitted, as I was assured SEVERAL times that I would not be committed to this.
The whole process was unbelievably slow. Representative Judy Solano was running the show for our precinct. Our precinct chair was stopping and running all over the place to ask questions, it took forever to do about 5 votes. I caucused for a candidate. I was selected as a delegate. By the time most precincts had left, mine was still there, trying to get organized. I was exhausted and trying to leave, since I had to work several extra hours at my job, so I interrupted a personal conversation my precinct chair was having, and I asked if there was anything that I needed to fill out or sign. He assured me that I was set to go, and he’d contact me.
3 weeks later, there is no word. I contact Representative Solano. I found out that everything was a mess (judging by the way my caucus was run, I am not surprised). Apparently independents and republicans caucused in the democratic caucus. They were trying to sort everything out.
I get an email today informing me that they had record that I was uncommitted and did not change my vote. I beg to differ. I begged, I borrowed, I pleaded, I bargained to become a delegate. I had to stand up and give speeches. I did everything in my power… only to find out that due to poor record keeping, and the general way in which our caucus was run, I’m being penalized and punished? I’m probably the only delegate that cared enough to follow up on the status. Now I can’t even attend as an alternate.
I’m so annoyed at this point, and I wonder, if a caucus with a District Representative is so disorganized, how were other caucuses in comparison? And if this is the best we can get for a relatively simple caucus, how is the county government run? I’m not going to bother again until the primaries. What a waste of time.
____________________________
Update: I just received a phone call from the Adams County Chair. She stated that “Obama supporters were there and only gave people half information.” This is not true. Obama supporters were on the phone to the national party, helping people find their precincts. I never once heard them give anyone false information.
She said, “Obama won the precinct.” Me: “Does that mean the delegates were not divided proportionately?” Her “No.” I was trying to explain to her that the precinct chair and Rep. Solano told us that the delegates were distributed proportionately, which is why there is so much confusion. She then blamed the Obama supporters.
I was upset that she didn’t seem to get it. I don’t understand why it all has to be a pain in the ass, or why everyone has to point fingers. I think either candidate will do great things for our country, but for different reasons. I’m going to whole-heartedly support the candidate that is on the ballot. I also feel like I’m being talked to like I’m the idiot that got it all wrong and one day I woke up and decided, “Hey, I’ll be a delegate.” Sometimes I feel like I’m smarter than most other people… if it was likely that I would be running the show as a precinct chair, I would have read up on it the weekend before and figured out what the heck I was doing.
