The Republican Caucus

There is a place on facebook where you can list your interests.  One of the areas to fill out is "Politics".  My answer?

I avoid it.

I know.  Bad, bad.  This is a country that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people.  And if the people don't participate in the system, it stops being by the people and bad stuff happens.  I get it.

But let me tell you, I live in such a homogeneous neighborhood that I could shout myself blue in the face and it wouldn't amount to a thing.  Not that I feel like shouting.  I am more liberal than most of my neighbors, but still on the conservative end of the spectrum.  I am actually a registered Republican, if you can believe that.  I can't remember why that is.

The truth is, my voice doesn't count for anything here.  And I'm mostly okay with that.

So, you might be wondering what in the world would entice me to attend my neighborhood caucus meeting tonight.

Two of Helena's teachers are offering extra credit to seniors over 18 who attend the caucus and report about it...

...and Helena had to work tonight.

So, while I might avoid politics, I am willing to take a bullet for one of my kids and show up to video portions of it for her so she can write up the extra credit report.

Hopefully I can make up for my apathy as a citizen by being an excellent mom?

Anyways, the caucus for all the districts in town were held at the high school.  I arrived a tad late, and discovered that I would have to park a couple of blocks away from the school and hike in.  It took me a bit of research to figure out which district I'm currently in (due to redistricting, we've been in 3 different districts in the 12 years we've lived in this house).  I'm in AF09, now, which was being held in the south side of the cafeteria... while AF06 was being held simultaneously in the north side of the same room!  Oi!  It was hot, crowded, and noisy in there!  I figured I'd missed the prayer and the pledge, but they hadn't even gotten started yet.  Since I'm a registered republican, I was given a slip of paper that stated I was an accredited something-something that gave me a right to nominate people, run for office (thanks, but NO!!!), and vote.

I won't bore you with a blow by blow of the hour and a half that I actually stuck around and participated.  They were nowhere near done when I bailed.  But, while I was there, I got to participate in putting a friend and neighbor in as our committee chair (or head honcho, or whatever the heck you call the person who represents the rest of us at the next level).  It felt good to personally know the person who is going to speak for me as a delegate.  And the whole thing felt very grass roots.  The epitome of grass roots, in fact.  The three people nominated each took a turn speaking for 2 minutes and fielding questions from us about political stuff.  Only one of the three seemed out of touch and unprepared.  Our votes were hand written on slips of paper, collected in a shoe box, and tallied the old fashioned way off in the corner.  My friend and neighbor,  Reese Day, won the majority in a single round of voting.  (Well done, Reese!  Congratulations!)  The other nominee who seemed intelligently prepared ended up being voted in as the vice chair.

I got some video for Helena to use in writing up her report tonight, but even better, I can now say that I have officially done my civic duty as an American!  It was more interesting than I thought it would be, and I'm glad I went.  Huzzah.