Can anyone share first hand accounts about Iowa caucus nights?

[Lucinda]

I know HOW it works, but I was wondering what it actually feels like on the ground on caucus night...Anyone care to share what is has been like in the past?

I find the whole thing really fascinating.

[davidwparker]

1. be sure to watch it on C-SPAN. You don't get that feeling of being there,

but you can watch it. There may even be some 2004 archive episodes at c-span.org.

[Lucinda]

3. Thanks. I didnt think about being able to watch it!

[gateley]

2. Kick - I'd like to hear some stories, too.

[Nutmegger]

4. Another kick

I find the process fascinating as well.

Edwards 2008!

[asdjrocky]

5. This is just a fine question!

Thank you for asking it. I'll be in Nevada in the 19th to observe their caucus (I'm traveling from Ca) and that will be the first caucus I've ever attended.

Hope by the time I get there, John Edwards is riding high.

[suston96]

6. I would like to hear more on how it works but.....

....I would prefer to hear and see how we can change or schedule all these primaries on one day so that one small state primary/croccus is not used to influence or slant other primary elections.

[Bluzmann57]

7. Well here's my two cents worth

Since you know how it works, I'll just try and stick with how it was in '04. First, one has to sign in. There are lists to prove that you are who you say you are. No big deal, just don't want people where they don't need to be.
When I finally got inside, there were areas for all the candidates and people go to the area of their candidates. Of course, since we are all Democrats, there was a lot of chit chat about a lot of things. Me and another guy were chatting about cars until the whole thing got called to order. Every group had aleready elected a spokesperson (delegate) and each delegate got up and talked about his or her candidate in order to sway people to their side. After that, discussion can be interesting and even heated. For instance, the Gephardt people were next to us, the Edwards people, and a guy was asking me if I belonged to a Union. When I said I did, he almost started yelling at me, "Who did your Union tell you to support?" I answered, "They endorsed Gephardt, but I have a mind of my own and chose Edwards who has a good record with Labor as well. My Union doesn't TELL me to support anyone". A few Dean people were obnoxious as well, and it was turning people off, especially some of the older people. Anyway, several candidates ended up being viable on the second count. Kerry won, as you know. It was a very exciting and enlightening experience. We all realized that we were doing something special. Advancing Democracy. It was also sort of neat to go home and watch the TV after wards and hear what the alleged experts had to say. The real experts were those of us who were there and talking to and trying to cajole our friends and neighbors into supporting our candidates, mostly in a friendly manner.

[calteacherguy]

8. Did you find a significant number of people were influenced by others at the caucus?

The thought that on caucus night these delegates for each candidate could have a large influence on others is facinating.

[rucky]

15. And the personalities of their supporters.

It is fascinating.

[Lucinda]

9. Thanks for sharing that!

I wondered how much discussion went on during the evening. And how much pushing and pulling would happen if people were having to switch to their second choices. It really sounds like an exciting process.

It sounds like there might be a pretty good number of new caucus goers this year. I'm just a little bit envious of all of you!

[Lucinda]

10. ...

[Blue Gardener]

11. I just have a lot of fun

It's a great time to meet some of your neighbors, and it's nice to know who the democrats are in the neighborhood. For the most part, everyone is very civil, even when they are trying to get you to come over to their candidate. There was one Kucinich supporter who was pretty obnoxious because his candidate wasn't doing so well, but I just stayed away from him. I'm sure this upcoming caucus will be very well attended.

[Lucinda]

14. Thanks for responding! I think it will be a big turnout this year.

:)

[Rambis]

12. It is a great night

You get there and the chair goes over the rules and then you break into groups. You go to your corners and the undecided folks are told to go to a specific part of the room so they can listen to the sales pitch by the supporters of other camps.

As soon as the groups are set (you can decide to support no one) then they count and if the candidate you support is not viable (15% of total) then you have to pick another candidate or choose to support no one. I went to the Kucinich area and we were not viable by 2 people. I read the joint statement from Dennis and John Edwards camps that said if one or the other is not viable please support the one who is.

Last time the Kerry people had fire fighters for Kerry shirts and lots of food. I didn't see anyone change from their candidate to Kerry but the salsa and donuts were tempting.

Great fun, lively discussion if you choose to be a part of it. No pressure what so ever!

[Debi]

13. The Kerry person and I worked together to organize food

We had cookies and sweet cakes (and coffee/cocoa/hot cider). :P (I'm waiting for youthere to jump in w/the story about the Reuben dip!)

With such a small group (I think we had 22) sign in and alignment went quick - I don't remember the count but Kerry was the only viable candidate and received one delegate (we had 3 delegates to deliver) I was Dean and remember that Dean needed one - Gephardt, Clark, Kucinich and Uncommitted were all non-viable as well. Dean got the uncommitted and received one delegate and the remainder of the people went to Edwards giving him one delegate as well.

I remember during realignment that I wanted to either get Dean an additional delegate or try to keep Edwards from becoming viable or keep Kerry from getting an additional delegate - I went over to the Clark folks and the Precinct Captain held up her hand and said "We're not going there". (We both laughed - for goodness sakes she's my neighbor! - it's just that they were doing the same math as everyone else. They didn't want Dean or Kerry to get any more delegates in the process either).

I've attended two Democratic Caucuses and both have been fun, social events. I know and like my neighbors (even the ones I don't agree with politically). This year I'm hoping to have a small pot-luck w/each of the Precinct Captains for the respective campaigns bringing a different dish.

[Lucinda]

16. Thanks for posting that! It does sound like a lot of fun.

:)

[Tashca]

17. I'll do my best.

This event for me has always been very social. I have never seen tempers flare or anything remotely like arm twisting as I've seen speculated here. The majority of the people attending these events are mostly very well informed. You need to have your talking points down. The DU is a very good way to practice. I have told more than one person to come here for practice before the caucus...
anyway.....Let me tell you alittle history on myself. I supported Mondale in 84....Gore in 88...Harkin in 92......didn't attend in 96 because of Clinton re-election.....lived in Illinois in 2000 and supported Edwards in 04. I hosted two of these caucuses and don't ask me which. I can't remember for sure. All that means basically is that I read the instructions and told people what to do next based on these instructions....I think it made it hard to participate while doing this. I won't do it again.

Two memories are vivid for me. The first was in 92. Tom Harkin was running and of course he is from Iowa. When we broke for realignment there were just a few not standing in his corner. So now the rest of us felt we needed to convince the others to come over and make it unanimous. I noticed an older lady sitting by herself. I vaguely knew her....she was a very active democrat and well known in the community. No one was talking to her so I thought what the heck....I can convince her. I sat down with her and gave my spiel. She was very courteous and listened intently. When I finished she said "Son I like Senator Harkin very much, but I feel Bill Clinton would make a better President." That was about it and it wasn't what she said, but the way she said it. I walked away form there thinking in my mind...what is wrong with this woman....This Clinton dude is my sixth choice out of six candidates.....he doesn't have a chance!!:)

The second was four years ago. It is the most recent and easiest to remember. It was by far the most exciting and I expect this year to be more so. I was supporting Edwards and was scared to death I was going to be the only one. All I had heard about was Dean, Gebhardt, Clark, and Kerry. I had a fear no one would even know who Edwards was. When I walked into the room I was met by a good friend who had a Edwards sticker on. That calmed my nerves some. But the butterflies were still floating in great numbers. I didn't want to look foolish. Then I noticed a few more Edwards stickers. There were about 50 people and we had to choose 8 delegates. When we first lined up Kerry had 4....To my amazement Edwards had 2.......and no one else had enough for viability. You needed at least eight people for viability in this group. So that left 2 more delegates to decide. We broke and went into recruiting candidates for your cause and capture those last 2 delegates. Obviously everybody went for the undecided.....in a strange way...they had the power in the room. Then the Dean supporters gave up quickly.....mostly going to Edwards. The Gebhart people weren't going to budge. They were union and they were staying where they were. They never did realign. The Edwards group just seemed to gain momentum as we worked through this. We ended the night Kerry 4....and Edwards 4. My goal walking in there was to be at least viable and get one delegate for Edwards. I was in shock at the outcome.......it was no where even close to what the press was telling us to expect. I guess you all know the rest of the story.
I hope it made some sense to you!!