My Personal Story: The N E B R A S K A Caucus = Cluster Fuck

[RoadRage]

Today was the Nebraska Caucus. Different counties started at different times, but Douglas County (Most of Omaha, NE) was first to start today at 10:00am.

We were told to get to our location by 9:15 to be able to register, etc. As we arrived, we already saw lines out the door. We needed to get our registration card, and they had set up tables in a very small hallway (about 8 feet wide) to get your card. Letters A-D; E-H; etc. at different tables next to each other along the way. This was also the main hallway into the middle school that we were caucusing at - so people were arriving.. and it was a HUGE mess. No one could get down to the end of the hallway if their last name started with a "Z", etc.

We did finally make our way through the madness, and got our card. We were then instructed to go into the cafeteria where the actual caucus would be held. This room was MAYBE 2,000 sq. feet. TINY. We couldn't caucus in the schools gymnasium, because a YMCA basketball tournament was being held in there all day. THE DAY OF THE FIRST NEBRASKA CAUCUS, AND THEY COULDN'T MOVE THE DAMN TOURNAMENT TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL??? So many people were SOOOO PISSED OFF!

As we crowded in, people were literally shoulder to shoulder. There were no chairs, no drinks (one drinking fountain), no food. At about 9:50, the volunteer running our district said that there were so many people that he wanted people who KNEW that they wouldn't be switching sides to hand in their cards to one of the volunteers and leave - to make room for everyone else. He then said that if we couldn't fit into the room we would be forced to take the caucus outside (20 degrees, 35 mile an hour wind gusts here right now). So, some people just handed in their cards and left. I REALLY hope that these cards all got turned in - no way to tell. No way to ensure that you handed your card into a volunteer that was for your person.. who was going to make sure they were counted. COMPLETE CHAOS.

Finally, around 11:00am - an hour late, we began the caucus. Many were sitting on the floor if they could find space, because people had been there since 9:00am. There were over 1200 people in our location (they were expecting 300 and thought it might grow as big as 500). Obama was HEAVILY favored - probably 4 to 1.

The big nightmare came when we had to "count ourselves" to find out if Hillary was viable. Trying to count 1200 people in a 2,000 sq. foot room was almost impossible. We did the best we could.. figured Hillary had at least 15%, and then spent the next 20 minutes with each group trying to nominate someone to speak on our candidates behalf. Only one person could do it - again, total chaos. It ended up with 3 people wanting to speak for Obama, so all three stood at the front of the room and we clapped for who we thought should talk. Sadly, our guy (who never should have volunteered) spent 1/2 of his 90 seconds flipping through his notes - and had not thought out anything. Luckily it didn't matter.. but I was still pissed, and a lot of people wanted to kill this guy. He was also the only one who could "persuade" the undecideds - and i'd say we probably got half of them. 8 people ended up not choosing a side.

The undecideds wanted to talk, so they elected someone to represent them - and they came up to the front and the guy said "We just want to know who the vice presidential candidate will be for your candidates, that would help us make our decision". We all groaned - obviously no one has a clue - but someone on the Hillary side screamed out that "Edwards will be Clinton's Vice President" and that cause a HUGE uproar. The guy running the caucus spoke up and said that was not "official" and neither candidate had made a decision.. but I still think it's why some of the people went to the Hillary side. UGHGHG!

All over the city people ran out of forms. They were expecting 1/3 of the turnout that they got - and THAT was optimistic (they said).

I think i'll stick to Primaries in the future.. this was total and utter Chaos!

But, GOBAMA! I think he'll take Nebraska!

Here are a few pictures from this mornings madness: