I participated in the Washington Democratic Caucus on Saturday. Guess who I supported?
I actually spent a good amount of time and energy gathering the information to help me decide between Hillary and Barak. I watched debates, I read blogs of candidates, I read blogs of pundits, I read blogs of friends, and I engaged pretty much anyone who made themselves available in conversation.
I was surprised to find that, inconsistent with my demographic, I was leaning toward Hillary. Truth is, I was impressed with her in the first few debates I watched and I’ve always had a soft spot for Bill. I just couldn’t seem to be sold-out for Barak. Even though I could see that he appealed to my (slowly dying) inner idealist, I just couldn’t manage to change my mind.
Then, in the few days leading up to the Washington caucus, I got the same sort argument from several different sources and several different perspectives. Basically, it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have as much experience because his leadership ability is greater. He will lead young people to be more politically engaged. He will lead overseas consumers to like us and buy our stuff. He will lead overseas governments to respect us. I believe that he will unite more than he will divide and that is why I supported him in the caucus.
As for the caucus itself, well, we should be honest: democracy is not the most efficient political process. It was cool to have to explain to people why I was on the side of the boy’s gym that I was on. It was exciting to be able to answer questions posed by undecided voters. (These people especially impressed me, by the way. How civic-minded do you have to be to feel compelled to participate in something in which your participation was immaterial?) In the end, my 3-block radius of participants went 3:1 Obama over Clinton. I think the city of Seattle ended up averaging 7:1, and the state ended up with a 2:1 showing.
Though there are lots of good reasons why a secret ballot is a mainstay of US democracy, the upside to the caucus, as far as I can tell, is singular: The people who participated are now far more emotionally tied to the outcome. Record-breaking numbers of individuals participated in the Washington caucus which means, if my theory has any validity, we should expect to see political participation increase as a result of increased ownership as a result of increased participation.
Rad.
