veiled4allah

Yes, we can!

What a night! What a victory! An historic day for our nation, with the first African-American presidential nominee of a major party. An incredible victory for Obama's insurgent campaign against the ultimate Democratic party machine (the Clinton campaign). And the first time a candidate I supported has actually won the nomination! :D Truly a night to remember. Tomorrow (technically, later today :p ) the next stage of the fight begins, but for now a time to savor. God willing, McCain is toast.

caucusing for Obama

Today were the caucuses in Washington state (the February 19 primary is non-binding for Democrats). The procedure is very similar to that in Iowa, which may be familiar to some people. People gather at a set time and list their preference among the candidates, then the caucus chair determines how many delegates each candidate will get. There is a chance for everyone to change their minds (especially if their candidate did not have enough support to get a delegate) and a final count of delegates is done. These delegates will go to the next level up and the process continues until the state-level delegates are chosen.

About a dozen or so precincts caucused at a school in our area. I caucused for the first time in 2004 so I was familiar with the process and had something to compare it to. The caucuses were held in the school cafeteria.

The first thing we realized is that turnout was incredibly high. The caucus officially started at 1 pm, and the voting process at 1:30 pm. But at 1:30 pm, people were still lined up down the hall and outside of the building. In 2004, my precinct had only 4 voters show up - this year it was 16. Looking at the site as a whole, I think turnout was up that much for every precinct. It was just amazing to see so many people taking a couple hours out of their Saturday to take part in what can be a confusing process. African-American turnout was very high, and the crowd as a whole was incredibly diverse, all ages and races (this is one of the things I like about the area where I live, although we are not usually very politically engaged). When I told this to my (Republican) mom, she was actually silent a moment in shock, then said how great it was that democracy is so vibrant here.

We filled the school cafeteria!

My precinct was overwhelmingly for Obama. Of the 16 voters present, 12 voted for Obama and 4 for Clinton. We had five delegates, and four were for Obama and one for Clinton (which represents 80% Obama and 20% Clinton). Overall at the site, there were 66 delegates for Obama, 24 for Clinton, and 1 uncommitted (72.5% Obama, 26.4% Clinton). The Obama supporters in my precinct were black, white, and Native American, and young, middle-aged, and old. The Clinton supporters were three white women and a white man.

This was an incredible experience, to see so many people come out to take part. There was real energy in the room and real passion, especially for Obama. Everybody waited patiently throughout the process even though it took longer than expected because of the number of people.

Because I was the only one in my precinct who knew what to do, I ended up as the caucus chair. I never expected when I went today that I would end up leading 15 other people through the process of making sure their vote counts in this crazy system and also of selecting delegates. I am also a delegate for Obama to go to the next level, the legislative district caucus in April.

I am so proud of the people here!

Update: It turns out that my experiences were mirrored across the entire state. Obama won Washington by a 68-31 margin and he took all 39 counties in the state. Usually there is a lot of variation between the urban centers of Western Washington and sparsely populated Eastern Washington, but there was no such variation on Saturday. I have never seen anything like this before in state politics!

As an aside, looking at the pictures in the papers of the Republican caucuses, it appears that the average age of the voters there was about 70. I am not joking.

Fired up and ready to go in Seattle: my experience at the Obama rally

What an incredible time I had today! Barack Obama held a campaign rally at Key Arena (home of our local NBA team) in Seattle today. I got up really early (for me) and took the bus into Seattle, then walked up to Key Arena. When I arrived at 8:46 am, there was already a line snaking around several buildings.

More than 2 hours before doors open

They started letting us in around 10:30 am. It was cold and very windy at times - my face felt numb after standing outside for nearly two hours (plus the walk up from downtown).

I was on the floor of the arena. We had to go through a metal detector to be on the floor and they made me take off my cloak just like at the airport. They also hand-checked my purse.

I was about four or five deep in the "mosh pit" on the floor. Unfortunately, I can't been seen in any pictures of the crowd, because I am too short!

Obama in Key Arena

Obama did not enter the arena until a little after 1 pm, so we had a pretty long wait inside. At least it was nice and warm, although of course I was on my feet the whole time. They played music interspersed with Obama campaign ads, which were shown on the big screen above the arena.

The first speakers were two campaign organizers who educated everybody about the caucus (I wish it was an easier process - why can't the state Dems get their act together and have a primary instead?). Later, two musicians came out. One of them was from the rock band Pearl Jam and the other is a song-writer. He had written a song called "Fired Up, Ready to Go" about Obama, and pulled together the Total Experience Gospel Choir here in Seattle and other musicians to record the song and a video. They spoke about the making of the song and why they had done it, then the music video played on the big screen.

 

 

Fired Up, Ready to Go

Awhile after this, the actual rally started. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels opened it, followed by Washington Congressman Adam Smith, then they introduced Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, who endorsed Obama today. Finally, Gregoire introduced Obama. I think he spoke for around 45 minutes or so (but I wasn't watching the time!). The crowd were on their feet the whole time, even the people in the stands, and he was frequently interrupted by cheers and chants.

A girl who was standing on the floor, though some distance away from me, fainted partway through. Obama saw this and went to get a bottle of water that was on the stage for him. He tossed it to some people standing near the girl and then over the microphone called for paramedics and some people to get a chair and help the girl. I noticed Nickels hurry off the stage during this, so I think he was helping to coordinate the assistance and he returned later. Only after the girl had been helped did Obama continue his speech. He had to ask the crowd what he had been talking about last, but then picked it up smoothly. I was really impressed by how he took the time to make sure the girl was helped.

After Obama finished the speech, he walked around the floor surrounding the stage to shake hands with people on the floor. I got swept up and was literally nearly crushed. I was too far away and too short to have a chance at him even if I was not having the breath crushed out of me, but at one point I could see him through the crowd only about six feet away!

After the rally was over, I walked back downtown. It started to rain during this and eventually would be pouring but fortunately I was under a bus shelter by then. It was probably around 5:15 or 5:30 by the time I finally back my apartment. I had caught the bus into Seattle at 7:25 this morning so a very long day!

The crowd there was largely young people. I bet they came down from the University of Washington in droves and I was standing in line with some high school students. Apparently, some teachers were giving extra credit to kids who attended the rally, to encourage them to become more interested/involved in politics. I bet a lot of classrooms were empty in Seattle today.

The crowd was mostly white, as one would expect given Seattle's demographics, but there were many African Americans. There was also a guy wearing a Ron Paul sweatshirt, but he later went away. I don't know if it was a stunt or something.

According to the newspapers, they closed the Arena with 18,000 people inside - the official capacity is 17,000 but apparently they got another thousand of us on the floor and in the aisles. Apparently there were at least 3,000 people in various overflow areas. They set up speakers so these people could hear the speech, and it turned out that part of the reason Obama was late was that he stopped to speak to the crowd outside so they didn't feel so left out.

It was an incredible experience and I had a wonderful time. Hopefully I will not come down with a cold after all that standing around and walking in the cold, wind, and rain. I had been favorably inclined towards Obama for a long time and really became interested after he won Iowa so when my original favorite Dennis Kucinich (yes, I am very, very liberal) dropped out the other week I knew that I would be supporting Obama. Everything he said in his speech today I agreed with. I am also impressed by the character he displayed in helping the girl who fainted. Many politicians would keep right on talking, at best assuming that somebody else would help her. I will be voting for Obama at the caucus tomorrow and feel both happy and proud to do so.

P.S. He is really good-looking in person, especially when he smiles. Two girls next to me were giggling about this.

Barack Obama

Returning briefly from the dead... As long-time readers of this blog know, I supported Kucinich in 2004 and have been supporting him this year as well, though not as actively (in part because I was unemployed last time around, but now my work schedule keeps me busy). This has always been because I agree with his positions and I want them to be part of the debate, so as to encourage other Democrats to move in that direction. I'm realistic enough to know that he's not going to win, in part because too many people who otherwise agree with him don't bother to support him at all thinking he can't win (thus it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy). So even while supporting Kucinich, I continue to look at the leading candidates to decide which, if any, of them I think would be the best nominee for the Democrats. In 2004, I wasn't very inspired by any of the candidates. And while this year's race is better in many ways, I was still holding back. I've liked a lot of what I've seen about Obama - and to be completely honest, every time the Republicans try to make a smear out of claiming he's Muslim, that makes me support him more. But I've also had reservations about his positions on some issues and that held me back. However, after watching his win in Iowa and the sense of hope it's given so many people, I've decided to support him over Clinton and Edwards as far as he can go. I want to see our country be bold enough to choose him over the Clinton machine, to look forward instead of back. Because of the way the caucus system works, I still plan to caucus for Kucinich here in Washinton on February 9, to help him stay in the race and hopefully get a few delegates so he can participate at the convention and represent his issues. But if/when he's not viable (based on my experience from 2004, this will be at the district rather than precinct level because I'll probably be one of only a handful of people from my precinct) then I'll switch to Obama and I'll definitely be rooting for Obama in New Hampshire and other races. And hopefully, if Obama gets the nomination he will choose a great running mate to make the Democrats really solid on the all the issues!

Update 1/24/08: Since Kucinich has withdrawn from the race, I will support Obama from here on out and caucus for him on February 9.

quote of the day

Quote of the day:

If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for their prescription drugs, and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandparent. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It is that fundamental belief, it is that fundamental belief, I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams and yet still come together as one American family. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. - Barack Obama, speech to Democratic National Convention