[Assam] Caucusing In Texas

[Chan Mahanta]

>Its a mess!


*** That is the understatement of the day Ram :-).







>You are welcome C'da.
>Amlan is correct - supposedly there was a mad rush in some precincts to be
>the first one to grap the 'register' becomes the captain.
>
>It seems that even with all this trouble, the Dems have bigger problems
>ahead.
>
>The person that can be nominated must (repeat must) have 2025 (revised to
>2024) delegates, including the 'Super Delegates'.
>
>The problem is neither Clinton nor Obama can garner this magic number - even
>if one or the other can win all the remaining states. They will still be shy
>of the the magic number.
>
>So, what can they do?
>
>The party leaders could weigh in on one or the other candidate to give up.
>They could impress upon the Super Delegates to switch sides (at the Dem
>Convention). Not that easy from what I understand.
>
>Or they could have a primary in Florida & Michigan and count their
>delegates. If they don't give either Florida/Michigan this chance and
>dis-enfranchise the voters in these two states, there will be further
>problems in November.
>Many Dems in these states have said they would vote for McCain in November.
>
>Both Michigan/Florida favor Clinton.
>Obama is ahead (right now) in the delegate count, and Clinton has won the
>big states (that matter) that the Dems must win in November.
>
>Maybe Pureto Rico (I think in June) will be the deciding factor.
>
>Its a mess!
>
>-- Ram
>
>
>
>On 3/5/08, amlan saha <a.saha at alumni.tufts.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  Here is another - as per the dem state election manual, in answer to the
>>  question "who conducts the caucuses?", it says that - well, the precinct
>>  captains do but if the precinct captain fails to turn up at the
>>  predesignated caucus center on time, whoever  (voters) reaches there first
>>  becomes the precinct captain and takes charge.
>>
>>  This on top of being able to vote effectively twice in the same election.
>>
>>  I love honky tonk land :-)
>>
>>  On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 12:48 PM, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net>
>>  wrote:
>>
>>  > Thanks for enlightening us yet another amazing Texan trait , Ram.
>>  >
>>  > I know weird is everywhere. But this certainly  stands out :-)
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > At 11:33 AM -0600 3/5/08, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>>  > >Very few people in Texas have voted in the primaries and much less in
>>  the
>>  > >Democratic primaries.
>>  > >And boy, was it an experience.
>>  > >
>>  > >For those who are not familiar with the process, Texas has, what they
>>  > call,
>>  > >a "two-step' process for the Democrats. The Republican, don't go thru
>>  > that
>>  > >process in the Primaries - its the regular 'vote your candidate'
>>  process.
>>  > >
>>  > >The first part is to vote for the particular Democratic Party candidate
>>  ,
>>  > >and a certain number of 'committed delegates' are given proportionally
>>  to
>>  > >the the candidates.
>>  > >
>>  > >The second part is what is called the "Caucus". Now, this is easier
>>  said
>>  > >than explained. But basically, from what I understand:
>>  > >After the last person in line (at 7 PM) has voted, the Caucus begin. In
>>  > the
>>  > >Caucus, people are supposed to 'influence and cajole' voters who don't
>>  > >support your candidate, form a goup and elect delegates to the
>>  > State/Central
>>  > >convention who will, in turn represent your candidate and cast their
>>  > ballots
>>  > >in his/favor.
>>  > >
>>  > >Confused? Well, so am I, and everyone I know is too.
>>  > >
>>  > >What really happened: from start to finish - it took about 5 hours.
>>  There
>>  > >were just 6 machines, 3 people to register, and a bunch of other
>>  > volunteers
>>  > >giving you wrong information from time to time.
>>  > >
>>  > >But we did get to vote, and then stood in line for caucusing (if thats
>>  a
>>  > >word). After an eternity, they basically told us to separate into lines
>>  > (one
>>  > >for Hillary and the other for Obama). The Hillary line had only a few
>>  > >people, the Obama line was long in the precinct we voted. In the
>  > > Caucusing
>>  > >part, we had to write our names/address etc on a form. Thats it.
>>  > >
>>  > >There was no 'caucusing' in the cacus. They could have just cut to the
>>  > >chase, and kept a form next to the ballot machines and people could
>>  have
>>  > >done the same thing.
>>  > >
>>  > >On the whole, it was fun, and exciting to have taken part in a process
>>  > that
>>  > >certainly seems important..
>>  > >
>>  > >Hope y'all enjoyed this.
>>  > >
>>  > >Well, that much for politics - at least as its done in Texas.
>>  > >
>>  > >--Ram
>>  > >_______________________________________________
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