Welcome to the Party
March 4th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
The Daggett Elementary School in South Fort Worth hosts voters from six precincts. Democrats from all over the Fairmont neighborhood streamed in tonight to caucus for president. The turnout was stunning. Many were attending their first presidential caucus in the Texas Democratic Party’s odd primary-caucus hybrid.
“I never even knew there was a caucus,” said Mike Cagle, a longtime Democratic voter, as he waited for his caucus to begin in the school’s cafeteria.
Precinct 1096 gathered in the gym. Usually 10 or 15 people turn out for the caucus, said state Rep. Lon Burnam, who lives in the precinct. Tonight, more than 120 people signed in. (If you’re wondering, the final tally was 57 percent for Obama and 43 percent for Clinton, which meant Obama received one extra delegate to the county convention — each precinct will send roughly a half a delegate to the national convention. In Cagle’s caucus down the hall in the cafeteria, Clinton had a slight edge.)
The caucuses all seemed civil. Everywhere you looked tonight, the Democratic Party seemed to be reconstituting itself. In a tiny class room at the end of the hall, about 20 people — all Blacks and Latinos — waited in silence for their caucus to begin. None of them had ever caucused before. This was precinct 4084. There hadn’t been a caucus in 4084 for years because no one had ever bothered to show up. There was no precinct chair.
Finally, Mike Utt, an election poll worker, bopped in to explain the process to the confused folks in 4084. They soon had signed in for their candidates — 18 for Hillary and 2 for Obama. Here was a list of voters, with all their contact information, wanting to get involved in the process.
“Does anyone want to be precinct chair?” Utt asked. “They pay you for it.”
Juanita Robles raised her hand. She’s lived in the neighborhood all her life and voted in many elections, but never attended a caucus before. It was what she called a “historic” election that brought her to Daggett Elementary. By the end of the night, she was the Democratic Party’s newest precinct chair. Seated at a small green table in an elementary classroom, Robles filled out the necessary party paperwork and prepared to call in the caucus results. In a few weeks, she said, she will attend the county convention.The results of tonight’s caucus and primary are unclear. But given the turnout and excitement generated by Obama and Clinton, there is one clear winner — the Democratic Party in Texas.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
and on the other side of the coin (aisle?)
per the NYTimes,(at 11pm cst) with 2/3 of the votes reported in the GOP primary, McCain has just over half of the votes (52%)
such numbers in DEM turnout vs GOP, and McCain’s dismal performance suggest that in the fall, if Texas doesn’t turn blue, or purple, it will at the very least be in play. causing the GOP to spend a massive amount of money in a very large state that previously was a given.