03.07.08
Unprecedented turnout for caucuses a lesson in civics
Two days later, and we still don’t have an accurate count of how many people attended the Democratic precinct conventions, or the names of those elected as delegates to the county convention. County chair Richard Torres has estimated the turnout to be around 10,000 12,000 in Williamson county. As many as 3,000 delegates and alternates could have been selected to attend the county convention March 29.
The biggest obstacle for precinct convention attendees was signing in. Without exception, the lines to sign in were long and moved slowly. Many precinct conventions were held at the polling location, which in some cases was inadequate for the size of crowd in attendance.
In spite of the inconvenience, there were many stories of ordinary citizens stepping up to lead. The convention chairs, secretaries and delegation chairs were ordinary citizens, most of whom had never participated in politics beyond voting, figured out the process as they went through it. Those in attendance showed tremendous patience and many discussed the moment’s potential to be remembered by history as a turning point.
One common misconception about the precinct conventions was that they were staffed. No one got paid for the precinct conventions. Not the folks who served in an elected position, not the volunteers working on behalf of the presidential campaigns, not the members of the county party, not one person made any money from the precinct conventions. It was an all-volunteer, people-powered democratic process. There was excellent training available online, but few knew about it in advance. Many members of the county executive committee (CEC) had given large amounts of time to meet with folks interested in running their precinct conventions.
Those precincts where an established CEC member resides experienced the fewest mishaps. That is because, for the most part, they had done it before. The others sought out training. Where no person serves as the precinct chair, state law and the party rules allow for anyone in attendance to run the meetings. In many cases, this was someone without training or experience.
The party rules are set up so that once everyone is signed in, the attendees could nominate and elect the most qualified person to serve as the convention chair. The aim is to make the temporary chair’s job simple and short. However, the temporary chair and temporary secretary were responsible for managing the sign-in process. To complicate matters, the process for verifying an attendee’s qualifications was not self-explanatory.
In a normal year, where a handful of attendees are present, these aren’t difficult problems to endure. However, when 5 or 10 percent or more of a precinct’s registered voters come out to caucus, the result is confusion and long lines.
Most took advantage of the wait to get to know their neighbors and talk about the presidential campaigns. Many found places to sit and made giant circles. It was a sight to behold.
There were those who, suffering through the hassles, left feeling that the Democratic party did a terrible job running the conventions. This misconception goes right to the core of what the caucuses are all about. They aren’t run by the Democratic Party. The whole point is that they are run by citizens. Running a precinct convention requires the ability to adapt quickly to unknown situations, compromise and cooperate, overcome our fears of speaking in front of large groups, stand up in front of our neighbors and declare your support for a given presidential candidate, and most importantly meet your neighbors and figure out how to solve problems.
There wasn’t enough room? Fine, let’s take it out into the parking lot. There weren’t enough forms? No problem, I know where there’s a copy machine, or a notebook. Here’s an extra table we can use to sign in. Can you get some more chairs from over there? May I have your attention please? Does anyone have a calculator? What is so easy about “E-Z Math?” Who wants to attend the county convention?
It is called problem solving. It also teaches team building and public speaking. In a word, it is the essence of politics. Those who came away from the experience feeling empowered probably got it. Those who grumbled and wondered how Democrats can run government if they can’t run 99 simultaneous precinct conventions with an average of more than 100 people attending each — they didn’t get it. Government is not something we should be leaving up to someone else. Look at where the Republican party has taken that idea: corruption, injustice, self-interest, secrecy and incompetence. If we learned something at our precinct conventions, then let’s take it to the next level and figure out how to take back our government. Then let’s make this county a little better place to live.
Chato said,
March 15, 2008 at 10:22 am
I was both shocked and elated with the amount of people that showed up to Caucus on Tuesday night. It was chaotic to say the least. As an election worker, I had to try to “shut down” the polling station while a throng of people tried to come in. Thank God I kept my wits about me and had someone willing to take charge of the long group of people. I think that the process went as good as could be expected with such a large turnout.