Memo from one Jane to HRC: Don’t Mock the Caucus

By CJP | March 4, 2008

    One of the most fascinating aspects of today’s Texas Two-Step is the first-ever juxtaposition of the outcome of a contested primary against a contested caucus  in the same  state  on the same  day.  Hillary Clinton’s Communications Director, Howard Wolfson,  said the  process was “like a science experiment,” and would  give a clear  answer to  whether their hunch is right- that caucuses somehow do not reflect the popular will of the people.

One Jane from the caucus state of Washington thinks the Clinton campaign has it all wrong when it comes to casting aside the caucuses as peopled with nothing but limousine liberals.  Karen T. tells us why caucus-goers are people too…

“I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, so I waited until “Anderson Cooper 360″ repeated it later in the night.  Yes, indeed, while she was touring what looked to be a manufacturing plant, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had said of her February 11th shut-out to Sen. Barack Obama in four states, including my own, “You know my sense of caucus states. They are primarily dominated by activists.  They don’t represent the electorate. We know that. As I said, my husband never did well in caucus states either. So, it doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t affect me one way or the other.  They don’t represent the electorate. We know that.”
Hello? Up here in Washington State, where the Democratic caucuses chose Obama over Clinton by more than 2-to-1, I don’t suppose all the hundreds of people who were recently turned away from a filled-to-capacity nighttime Hillary rally would be happy to hear that “they don’t represent the electorate” because they happen to live in a caucus state.

As that rally showed – and the Obama rally the next day which attracted a capacity crowd of 18,000 plus onlookers — lots of people were participating in the primary process in Washington State, not only “activists.” (And what’s wrong with activists?)
When I spoke with caucus attendees at both Democratic and Republican caucuses on Election Day, I saw for myself that the caucuses were attended not only by party activists, but also by a good number of regular Joe’s and Janes.  In fact, most
everyone I spoke with was there for their first-ever caucus. One woman – who looked to be around 60 – said in passing “I’ve lived here 40 years and I’ve never seen it like this.”

At just one Democratic caucus I attended at a middle school, the entire parking lot in the suburban school was filled, while cars were parked up and down the streets for several blocks in each direction.   The “Seattle Post-Intelligencer” blog reported that among Democrats across the state, the turnout was “record-shattering” and nearly double that of 2004.

So, Hillary, stop blaming the caucus process for your losses. It’s not a winning card.

Topics: Eyes & Ears, Voting

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