You Have to Commit to Caucus

Participatory Democracy in MN

I live in Minnesota so last night I participated in the Super Tuesday caucus in my state.  I'm no stranger to caucusing.  My first ever bout of political activism when I was 18 and a college student in Maine was participating in the Democratic caucus there in 1984.  I caucused for Colorado Senator Gary Hart and was elected a delegate to the Maine state Democratic convention.  The convention was great and I got to meet Steven King, which was tremendous, but I also learned a lot too.

One thing is for certain, if you're going to caucus, you have to commit.

A primary is easy.  You walk in, pull a lever, and go home. 

In a caucus you sit with your neighbors and discuss.  You discuss the candidates.  You discuss the issues.  You elect your neighbors to the next stage of the process.  And, of course, you vote.

A primary takes about a half hour of your time - less if there is good parking and a short line.

A caucus?  Block off the evening.

Last night I caucused at Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School with my fellow Democrats from Precincts 1 & 2 (and outlying areas) from the Z.

I arrived early and the check in line was relatively long and it grew exponentially whilst I was waiting.  We outgrew the library where we were going to caucus (after the driver's ed class got out, of course) so we moved to the auditorium. 

[As an aside, one of the driver's education students left the library, saw the crowd of people waiting and said "Wow, what is this about?".  Really?  You'll be driving shortly and in two years this will become your responsibility as a citizen.  But I digress...]

There are rules that govern the caucus set down by the state party.  Those rules were read to us and we were ready to begin.  EXCEPT...the rules say that we couldn't vote for delegates to the county convention in March until 7:30 and it was only 7:15.  Therefore it was time to take motions from the floor on resolutions.  At 7:30 we voted and then went back to the resolutions.

The resolution part of the evening, while long and dragged out, was the most interesting part of the night.  This is an opportunity for us to try and help shape our party platform.  Or at least be made to feel like we have some input.  Resolutions ranged from decrying the marginalization of certain segments of the population, to CEO pay, minimum wage, military spending, etc.  Some resolutions passed and others failed.  We had our time to speak and discuss each issue before the resolution was put to a vote.  The resolutions approved will be forwarded on to the Resolution Committee at the county level and will be discussed at the Goodhue County Democratic Convention at the end of March.

It was really quite a remarkable experience.  It may not matter, but for a brief time the major policy discussions weren't taking place in Washington D.C. in the corridors of power but in Zumbrota, MN (population a wee bit over 3000) in the corridors of a high school.  We mattered.  We discussed the issues with passion and reason.  Not once was anyone called low energy, ugly, boring or called out on their small hands.

Maybe at the end of the day none of it matters at lick.  But it did to us.  We got involved.  We made the commitment to become an active participant in the process.  Admittedly, there was attrition as the resolution part of our evening went on a bit longer than I think everyone would have liked - especially for the older lady two seats over who asked several times "How many more of those do you have?" and "I don't want to be here until 10!"  THAT is saying what everyone is thinking Mr. Trump!

By 8:45 I was on my way home newly minted as the Zumbrota Precinct 1 Democratic Chair (which I don't think is anywhere near as impressive as it sounds) and knowing that the 18-year old version of me would have been proud.