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Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...

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Elara89	Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...	Lead	[-]
Posts: 7093 (01/10/08 02:10 AM) *TX Administrator* Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Well, I've been to the caucus. Please note my excitement. ;D okay, walked in, stood in line for a half hour, had to fill out paperwork because I am apparently, not a dem, then was sent upstairs. Oh joy. 3 flights with a mother who can't walk upstairs. Luckily the school has one of those lifts that goes along the side of the stairway. She didn't like it, but she had to take it, it was 3 flights! Walked in, stood in line for a half hour, had to fill out paperwork because I am apparently, not a dem, then we were sent upstairs. We had to move to the school library because of the large turnout. Upstairs, we listened to a guy describe the process. In our proper places, the count began. 5 undeclared 44 Obama 35 Clinton 28 Edwards 8 Richardson 0 Biden No others represented. 120 people in our group. Not enough in the Richardson camp to be viable, plus us few undecideds, so thus began the 30 min. wooing period. We sat next to the Richardson group, so their rep got to us first. My neighbor asked him some questions, he did not know the answers, just said what he thinks, basically. The Clinton rep came over and she joined in, so we asked her the same questions. There was only one she couldn't answer, but said her husband could, so my neighbor took off to speak to him and I sat listening to the two reps. The Clinton rep mentioned the polarizing said about Clinton and the Richardson rep started in as to how that is why she could never be any use in office. I told him that was true of any dems as long as there were repubs. The Clinton rep chuckled and agreed. The Richardson rep got annoyed. Then the Richardson rep got distracted, so I had a chance to speak alone to the Clinton rep and after awhile I told her that if she could find me one of those Clinton buttons, I'd join them, pointing out that at that point, she had 2 min. She took the one she had on her jacket, off, gave it to me and waited. I said Clinton had my vote. What the hell, I was torn between Clinton, Obama and Edwards, so I chose Clinton. ~shrug~ Note, not a one of the Obama people came to us, we had to go to them and they were not well informed. One Edwards rep spoke to us, but apparently we were not interested enough, so he quickly left to work on the Richardson group. Final vote: 0 undeclared 53 Obama: 3 delegates 36 Clinton: 2 delegates 29 Edwards: 2 delegates 2 Richardson: 0 delegates 0 Biden: 0 delegates No others represented. 120 people in our group. After it was over, the Clinton rep came back to talk to me some more, the other reps all just shot out the door. They were done. The Clinton rep and I talked about problems I was having with college stuff for my son, we talked about some of Hillary's speaking engagements that this woman had been to, staying with me right up to mother and I walking out of the room. Giving me her number to call with any questions. One thing, if I get a pic of it from someone or the paper, I will post a pic of Obama in butter. yep, the butter cow lady did a bust of him in butter. All in all, it was interesting. ~I have a Hillary button!~lol~ ~ blue crystal glows, the darkside unseen, sparkles in scant light, from sun to planet, to me in between ~
Elara89	Re: Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...	#1	[-]
Posts: 7093 (01/10/08 02:13 AM) *TX Administrator* Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Edwards has the backing because he ran with Kerry. Most of his supporters last night, were vets and/or relatives of vets. My mother and ex in-laws, included. ex father-in-law did his best to persuade me to join them, saying that Hillary wasn't going to help me. I told him that none of them were going to help me. And the repubs barely made a showing, mostly because, as I have heard today, they a. don't believe they stand a chance. and b. because they really have nothing to choose between. Huckabee's Iowa win isn't much of a win when the people don't care. That college bit (see next post) about Obama explains something I noticed that night. I did not see one older adult in his group. I did however, see a bunch of college aged kids, one of which had a laptop growing out of her arm. She was too busy to really speak to anyone, but personally, I think it was all the bleach for her hair and tanning bed/products for/in her skin. But that may just be me. I asked her where Obama stood on education and she did not know (which is now scary, in light of the news that he was using college students.), so she sent me off to another, who was also too busy, so I gave up. Honestly, he sure didn't get support from his helpers, here. However, in the college towns, this tactic would get him high numbers. ~ blue crystal glows, the darkside unseen, sparkles in scant light, from sun to planet, to me in between ~
Elara89	Re: Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...	#2	[-]
Posts: 7093 (01/10/08 02:15 AM) *TX Administrator* Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	abcnews.go.com/Politics/S...amp;page=1 *Quote:* The Illinois Caucus By DAVID YEPSEN The Des Moines Register Dec. 1, 2007 Barack Obama's campaign is telling Iowa college students they can caucus for him even if they aren't from Iowa. His campaign offers that advice in a brochure being distributed on college campuses in the state. A spokesman said it's legal and that 50,000 of the fliers are being distributed. The brochure says: "If you are not from Iowa, you can come back for the Iowa caucus and caucus in your college neighborhood." Given that lots of students in Iowa's colleges and universities are from Obama's neighboring home state of Illinois, the effort could net him thousands of additional votes on caucus night. It's not the first time Obama has profited from the fact he's from an adjacent state. Illinois residents routinely show up at the candidate's events in eastern Iowa. (The first question Obama took at an Iowa town meeting was from a guy from Naperville.) Also, campaign volunteers come from Illinois to campaign for him. And opposing campaigns accused Obama's campaign of busing people into Iowa from Illinois to attend the recent Jefferson Jackson Dinner, a charge Obama's campaign has denied. The flyer urges Iowa college students to caucus in their hometowns on Jan. 3, when many of them will be on holiday break. While it's legal for college students to register to vote in Iowa to do that, this raises the question of whether it's fair, or politically smart. No presidential campaign in memory has ever made such a large, open attempt to encourage students from out of state, many of whom pay out-of-state tuition, to participate in the caucuses. No other campaign appears to be doing it in this campaign cycle. Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Obama's campaign, said "we have no intention of doing something here that is in any way illegal or that will raise questions about the credibility of the caucuses." He said election laws allow students to register and vote where they go to college and that means they can caucus in those precincts as well. That's fine but these are the Iowa caucuses. Asking people who are "not from Iowa" to participate in them changes the nature of the event. And trying to pack the caucuses with people from Illinois might taint Obama's showing. Polls show Obama is in a close race with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Recent surveys show him with a lead of a few points. If he wins the Iowa caucuses with Illinois votes, his victory would be discounted by his opponents and media people. The issue of out-of-state residents caucusing in Iowa came up recently when one of the candidates, Chris Dodd, urged his rivals to promise not to encourage their staffers working in Iowa to register as voters so they could participate in the caucuses here. Most of them agreed, including Obama's campaign. (And, frankly, a few hundred staffers wouldn't have much of an impact on the outcome anyway. Besides, most of those staffers will be working on caucus night and wouldn't have time to participate.) But turning out-of-state college students into Iowa voters is a different, larger, matter. Thousands of votes are involved and it risks offending long-time Iowa residents. But, then, they do politics a little differently in Illinois than they do in Iowa. ~ blue crystal glows, the darkside unseen, sparkles in scant light, from sun to planet, to me in between ~
Elara89	Re: Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...	#3	[-]
Posts: 7093 (01/10/08 02:17 AM) *TX Administrator* Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I don't really fault Obama for trying to get all the help he can, but they need to be more organized to make it work. Clinton is more experienced in how to get things done in a campaign, maybe he should talk to her? ~lol~ The main reason this tactic can backfire, is that people are more likely to switch to him if they know the ones helping/working for him, bringing in strangers makes ya wonder if no one local wants to help (the others had local people). That can make people wonder if he is hiding something, etc... so this tactic can be a sticky one to attempt. I was asked by several people if I knew the kids in his camp, when I said no, the reaction made me think they were now, not so sure. In less rural areas though, this could work. Still something he needs to work on, or rather, his people need to work on. Personally, after the latest debate, I am now leaning toward Edwards and beginning to think mother and ex in-laws made the right choice. (Now I want an Edwards button to go with my Hillary, next an Obama. ~bg~) The last thing they did that made an impression on me, was when they were asked if there was anything they regretted saying. Both Obama and Clinton basically avoided giving an answer, but Edwards and Richardson both gave something they regretted. I respect them for being honest and for not avoiding the question with seemingly, carefully calculated replies. Obama's cute comment about Clinton's jacket did not save his reply, imo. One thing I noticed, Clinton and Obama are both experienced enough in politics to snipe at each other. Which is disheartening. At this point, if Clinton or Obama get the nomination, I do not see them running together. Hopefully, because I think he is good and would make a good pres., they will ask Edwards to be the vice-pres. running mate. ~ blue crystal glows, the darkside unseen, sparkles in scant light, from sun to planet, to me in between ~
Gabsfan	Re: Iowa Caucus Experience, etc...	#4	[-]
Posts: 7561 (02/19/08 05:03 AM) *TX Moderator* Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hey El, Thanks for sharing your experience at the caucus. Back during the Iowa caucus, I was thinking of you and wondering if you participated. I was curious what went on at those things. In NJ, we only have elections, not caucuses. BTW, from the beginning, I've felt that Obama might be a good speech maker but he just doesn't have the experience or knowledge to be prez. Reading your post really made me shake my head that he's got those college kids all gung ho from his speeches but they don't even know what his policies are. That's scary. The next president will have to dig us out of a lot of sh!t the current president put us in and we need someone who knows what to do. I was torn between Edwards and Clinton and when Edwards dropped out, my decision was made for me and I voted for Clinton in the NJ primary. Rene O'Connor - Actor, Director, Producer and Artist
Hatshepsout		#5	[-]
TX Member Posts: 2568 (02/25/08 01:56 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BTW, from the beginning, I've felt that Obama might be a good speech maker but he just doesn't have the experience or knowledge to be prez. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a close neighbour of the USA and someone who thinks Bush has messed up not only his country but the security at a larger level, I'm following what's happening south these days. I've watched a couple of debates and interviews, and I must say I agree with you: Mr Obama is quite eloquent, but he does't have enough experience/knowledge. That much was showing a lot when asked questions about what he would do as president. For example, what striked me most on the last democrate debate before Super Tuesday was the fact that, while Mrs. Clinton was answering precisely, knowingthe facts and the numbers, saying this is the problem, and I want to do this, this, and that to correct it, Mr. Obama was answering vaguely, mostly bringing anecdotes about meeting a sick kid or a poor mom, and something should be done about it. We all agree that sicks kids or poor parents should be helped, but what's the plan to do it, to make it happen? That, he wasn't able to say clearly. Mind you, a similar situation happent where I live. There was a run to lead an important party, and a fresh, young and eloquent man won it with quite a margin over a greatly experienced, older woman. Next thing you know, he lost the election, and the troubled party asked to the woman to come back. I guess that, unfortunately, some people don't want to put a woman at the top. Another problem lies with the fact that image, these days, is considered more important than everything else. People comment on the look, but what about ideas? "No, no, yes, no. I tried that. Yes, both ways. No, I don't know. No, again. Are there any more questions? Good."

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