Raucus caucus

Today is the Iowa caucus, which is a big deal with the 2008 election and a chance to thin the field a little bit. We were talking about it at work today and I wanted to tell about our caucus experience. When Jeni and I were at Palmer, we lived in Davenport, Iowa and we participated in the 2000 Iowa caucus. I had no idea what to expect. I figured we'd go in to the church where we were sent, cast a vote and leave. Instead we heard little pitches from some local delegates, then split the room in two -- "If you like Gore, sit over here, if you like (the other guy) sit on this side." You had to declare a party in Iowa, either Republican or Democrat, and we are registered Democrats so we got to choose between Gore or the-other-candidate-whose-name-I-can't-remember. After we split the room in half it became volunteer time -- "We need someone to be a delegate for this area. We need someone to represent our district in Des Moines. Who wants to do that." It was around this point that we decided to sneak out the back when everyone was looking away. I understand the value, and the historical importance of the caucus, but my experience was very anti-climatic. Maybe I'll do the SC primary this year and see what's different.

On a side note, Hillary Clinton's campaign called me at 7:45 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Now, I'm not here to talk politics or debate policy, but if you're calling to poll and ask if "we can count on your vote," I wouldn't call around dinner time on New Year's Eve. Really! That's right up there with the creepy handwritten letter from a Howard Dean supporter we got in 2003. Yikes.