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Granite Staters head to the polls for the second major event of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election - the first using the good old secret ballot approach to democracy. However if, like me, your still a little confused about just what goes on in the high school gymnasiums of a Midwestern state with more livestock than people - well, we’ve got an insiders looks at the Iowa caucuses that took place on Thursday. Friend of chrisdellavedova.com and genuine Iowan, Nathan B. has taken some time off from pig milking shuffled the butter churning duties to his wife and written about his first experience in an Iowa caucus. The timing couldn’t be better as my science post just isn’t coming together and now I can take the day off. Here’s Nathan:

“My first exposure to the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucus (and my first-eve caucus) reflects one of the major points highlighted by much of the local and national press. Our caucus site was the local high school, which is large enough for 1,500 students. Brilliantly, I parked in the lot on the opposite side of the rooms used for the caucus (there were multiple precincts meeting at the high school). No problem, I thought, as I moved quickly through the empty hallways. As I rounded the corner leading to the caucus rooms, I ran into the crowd. The crowd leading to the registration tables was so large that a person couldn’t move through the halls. It took me 15 minutes to find the correct line for my precinct. Even with the large crowd, the process moved relatively quickly.

Once inside (we had to pack over 300 people into a relatively small room), everyone separated into their respective ‘support groups’, with independents and recovering Republicans gathering in one area to make it easier to count the groups. After some formalities, the caucus got down to business. Viability was determined first. In all, the three viable candidates had the support of about 70% of the people in the room. At this point, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards were viable, with Richardson having about 5% support; Biden and Dodd were close a combined 5%.

Now came the fun part…supporters from each group got to pitch their respective candidates. Most of the discussion was polite and genuinely heartfelt, except the spokesperson for Biden. He basically made out the supports for the three front-runners as lemmings (although he eventually supported Obama). After the shoutin’ match was completed, a second count was completed to determine the delegates. I got my brush with the political process by counting the number of Obama supporters (of course I supported Obama!). In all, Obama got 4 of 8 delegates, with Clinton and Edwards splitting the rest. In the end, Clinton didn’t pick up any significant support from the independents and non-viable candidate supporters; I’d estimate Obama picked up about two-thirds of them, with Edwards picking up most of the remainder.

All in all, it was a most excellent night. Heather and Ella (my wife and daughter) met Obama on their way into the caucus and are still excited about the encounter. The caucus was a very Iowa experience. It was about being around your neighbors and having a civil discussion about issues that impact Iowa and the nation. I’m not a native Iowan (although I’ve always lived in the Midwest), but I have really come to appreciate the caucus system. The people take pride in their political knowledge and in their place in the nomination process. Since only a handful of states determine the results of the general election, it’s about the only chance we have to influence the election of our President.”

Thanks, Nathan for your inside look at the political process. Sounds democratic to me. Thanks, Heather for adding me as a Flickr friend so I could use such a stunning picture of your husband. Americans, this is who is selecting your next president.

 

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