Has anyone ever been to a caucus?

[kentuck]

Sometimes they are folks in the neighborhood just coming into your home. They mingle and talk. Many are not totally set on who they are going to vote for. They meet and discuss the merits of their candidates. Sometimes many change their minds. If only fifteen people show up at a caucus, then any candidate can come away with the votes. The art of persuasion is a powerful tool in these community settings. Much will depend on the weather and how strongly the supporters of the different candidates happen to be. That is why I think Edwards may surprise many of the "experts" on caucus day.

[MNDemNY]

1. You are so right, His support in

the rural areas will surly put him in 1st place. Non of the statewide polling takes into account the heavier wight of the rural precincts. With the numbers being this close, the edge goes to JRE.
And yes, I have been to many caucuses in MN. (I'm old).

[catmandu57]

2. I have

Several years ago, it was interesting.

[TygrBright]

3. Yes. I used to caucus annually --well, most years-- in MN.

It can be frustrating, even maddening, sometimes, but it is the purest form of participatory democracy available in America. I was often irritated to screaming point with the amount of time spent on the minutiae of various platform planks that mattered only to a small group of fors and antis who tied up the rest of us with hour-long arguments while poorly-trained caucus chairs picked their noses and went for coffee, but in the long run it was an incredibly worthwhile education in the political process.

The drive to abandon caucus and replace it with primary is a major reason for the dumbing-down and devolution of citizen power in American politics. People who 'can't be bothered' and 'don't have time' to give one night a year to the political process, and believe that thoughtful, involved interaction with their neighbors in shaping the most basic level of the political process believe they can accomplish the same thing by a ten-minute stop at a polling station.

And they are aided and abetted by the big-money special interests who want to increase THEIR control over the political process and gently slide the citizens out of it altogether.

sadly,
Bright