Primaries are primary

An enthusiastic crowd made their way into the gym at Mt. Si High School for yesterday’s Legislative District caucus, continuing the three-tiered process through which Washington state determines delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Waiting in line as early as 11:30 a.m., Clinton and Sanders supporters mixed, mingled, and wound their way to the door while enjoying a magnificent sunny day. Revved up and ready to go, delegates and alternates began really filling up the room just following noon, with the promised call time for the proceedings to be at 1 p.m.

1 p.m. came and went, without even a preliminary welcome from the event organizers. It was nearly 2 o’clock when we heard that “we’d get started soon.” Agreed, it was vital to have all those slated delegates who were waiting in line allowed to check in and register. Yet once we began, the energy in the room was misdirected away from the goal of conducting the essential representative assembly that we had expected. From the outset, the initial “temporary caucus chair” handled his leadership role poorly, committing gaffe upon gaffe – from appearing to give preference to one candidate’s supporters over the other’s to changing procedures as various agenda items were being conducted to ignoring the appropriate and reasoned input and concerns from leaders from both candidates’ factions.

All the while (now approaching 4 p.m!), the “credentialing” committee, charged with reviewing and approving the check-in list, etc., seemed to lose track of either basic math or respect for other people’s time. What should be orchestrated as a fairly straightforward scrutiny of the data (heck, we’re a district populated by a myriad of Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Boeing techies and more, you’d think our community could figure this stuff out!) became a tedious, endless waiting game that pushed even the most fervent politicos among us toward losing any semblance of patience.

We finally broke into our congressional district sub-groups by 6 p.m., to then go through the process of electing delegates to the next round of festivities. Thankfully, those who remained present also remained of good cheer. I am thankful to the kind, caring, intelligent and interesting people (Clinton supporters in CD8) for their demeanor and forbearance throughout the day. Our final delegate tally was complete by 8, and nearly exhausted, everyone said their good-byes, making their way to their cars…

It’s been an amazing and eye-opening experience to be involved in the caucus process so far. I have met a ton of great people, neighbors and beyond, all who share the desire to do what’s best for our country. Am I excited to be chosen to move forward as a delegate? You bet! Do I hope we trade it all in and return to a good ol’ primary next time around? ABSOLUTELY.

C’mon Washington Dems – let’s get back to voting!