Thrilling Tales of Caucusing!
Feb. 6th, 2008 08:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseI had my first experience with the Democratic caucus last night. I've got to say it was pretty different from my expectations - I was figuring it'd be like a smaller version of a general election, where they hand you a ballot and you go to a private booth and fill it out and that's that.
Oooooooh no.
I don't really feel like writing out a whole narrative, but the public speeches in support of candidates were too hilarious not to mention. Some highlights:
--An older Edwards-supporting dude with an American flag-patterned hat covered in campaign buttons, who (honest to God) used the phrase "The Man" in all seriousness
--A youngish Kucinich supporter reading a speech about Kucinich's resignation to the crowd. This went from being serious to funny pretty quickly because he was obviously very impassioned about the subject, but he [a] was reading incredibly quickly to fit within the three-minute time limit, [b] was reading a speech that was so incredibly heavy-handed and generic it sounded like he got it off of downwithcorporategreed.com, and [c] had all the public speaking skills of my friend Taktuk (without Tak's talent for clowning that was often his saving grace during oral reports in high school - dude, I still laugh over your report on Bill Clinton senior year). I respect the guy for having the balls to get up there and talk, but for all his obvious dedication, the biggest reaction I could really stir up was "mild amusement."
--A female Clinton supporter who gave a very short speech comparing Hillary to JFK that sounded like an entry at a poetry slam
--A female Obama supporter who started off a bit heavy-handed but eventually won the crowd over through her sheer conviction (hopefully the Kucinich dude was taking notes). Of course, this might've had something to do with the overwhelming Obama support in the crowd, but she also had a modicum of charisma and a pinch of accessibility to help along her gallon of impassionment.
On the whole, though, I don't think I'm going to become a regular caucus participant. I can see the advantages to making a whole production out of it, and it was more fun than the few pep rallies I attended in high school, but on the whole I would've rather just filled out a ballot and had done with it. (Admittedly, I might've enjoyed myself more if I'd had time to grab a bite of dinner rather than rushing straight from work, as well as had some clue that I was devoting my whole evening to this event.) I like voting, but the forced participation in the politics of the Democratic party was just a bit much for my independent-minded self to swallow.
Oooooooh no.
I don't really feel like writing out a whole narrative, but the public speeches in support of candidates were too hilarious not to mention. Some highlights:
--An older Edwards-supporting dude with an American flag-patterned hat covered in campaign buttons, who (honest to God) used the phrase "The Man" in all seriousness
--A youngish Kucinich supporter reading a speech about Kucinich's resignation to the crowd. This went from being serious to funny pretty quickly because he was obviously very impassioned about the subject, but he [a] was reading incredibly quickly to fit within the three-minute time limit, [b] was reading a speech that was so incredibly heavy-handed and generic it sounded like he got it off of downwithcorporategreed.com, and [c] had all the public speaking skills of my friend Taktuk (without Tak's talent for clowning that was often his saving grace during oral reports in high school - dude, I still laugh over your report on Bill Clinton senior year). I respect the guy for having the balls to get up there and talk, but for all his obvious dedication, the biggest reaction I could really stir up was "mild amusement."
--A female Clinton supporter who gave a very short speech comparing Hillary to JFK that sounded like an entry at a poetry slam
--A female Obama supporter who started off a bit heavy-handed but eventually won the crowd over through her sheer conviction (hopefully the Kucinich dude was taking notes). Of course, this might've had something to do with the overwhelming Obama support in the crowd, but she also had a modicum of charisma and a pinch of accessibility to help along her gallon of impassionment.
On the whole, though, I don't think I'm going to become a regular caucus participant. I can see the advantages to making a whole production out of it, and it was more fun than the few pep rallies I attended in high school, but on the whole I would've rather just filled out a ballot and had done with it. (Admittedly, I might've enjoyed myself more if I'd had time to grab a bite of dinner rather than rushing straight from work, as well as had some clue that I was devoting my whole evening to this event.) I like voting, but the forced participation in the politics of the Democratic party was just a bit much for my independent-minded self to swallow.
