An on the spot report from the Northport Town Caucus: there were 84 people, and 88 votes (4 absentee); 64 cast for Obama and 24 for Clinton. The proportional delegates are 3-1 for Obama at 72.7%. The space in the town hall could comfortably accommodate 30 people. My source tells me that at the outset, a lot of independent voters were registering as democrats.
Something mind blowing happened at the beginning. After the preliminary explanations and registering (which took longer since they ran out of forms so 40 more were xeroxed), and Clinton supporters coming in with badges and large posters which people were asking to have, the chair requested a quick show of hands to determine how to allocate the space, and out of 60 or so people, 7 hands were raised for Clinton. They he asked for a show of hands for Obama, and the whole room raised their hands!
Belfast reports a similar line of independents at the outset of the caucus registering as democrats. There were 371 people present for the caucus in Belfast which is more than double the number from 4 years ago. 70% went for Obama.
2 comments:
Fascinating. As I watch Obama win so many delegates, I wonder how much this has to do with gender. It might not have anything to do with gender, it might just be that Obama really is more qualified and has a better vision. But, really, Hillary Clinton has been around longer, had more experience working in the federal government, and seems to have some substance to what she is doing. Yet, she is neck and neck with a relative newcomer. What is going on? Are we so adverse to electing a woman that we'll take someone less experienced just because he is male? Like I said, this might not have anything to do with gender, but it does make me wonder.
We caucused out here Nebraska this past Saturday as well. There were so many people at the school we were at that we had to go outside and perform the caucus on the lawn. The final count was 788 for Sen. Obama and 210 for Sen. Clinton at our site with similar results state wide. I don't know how much of this is Gender based. Right now I am lingering on the idea that people want new faces and names in Washington and Sen. Clinton's long tenure there is more of a hindrance at this point.
In Nebraska specifically, Sen. Clinton did herself no favors by NOT coming out here to campaign. Nebraskans want to see the person they are dealing with face to face, not the person's delegated functionary. Sen. Clinton sent her daughter to campaign for her instead and that was a strategic error. Sen. Obama took the time to travel out here, and I think that went a long way--no pun intended--toward helping him win out here.
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