Thirty years ago, decades before this country’s first serious female presidential candidate, and years before the Democratic party elected its first-ever black senator, 79-year-old Rowena Miller used to host Democratic presidential caucuses in the living room of her Edmonds home.
“It used to be that we were lucky if we had two people show up, and six was a crowd,” Miller said Feb. 9. “One year, we combined two precincts and 12 people came. That was exciting.”
Feb. 9 was, by comparison, an absolute zoo.
Miller’s precinct, Edmonds’ 23rd, had nearly 60 people turn out. The north Edmonds neighborhood met on the gym floor at Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School on a small stretch of hardwood that basketball players call the key.
In full, roughly 4,000 people crammed into Kamiak’s main gym, its auxiliary gym, its hallways and its classrooms, Democratic party organizers said. With the entire 21st district meeting at the same place, it became one of the largest caucus sites in the Puget Sound with Gov. Christine Gregoire making an appearance.
At the Republican caucus at Lynnwood’s Silver Creek Community Church, where the entire 21st district Republican party caucused, things were quieter. Between 200 and 300 people attended.
“It is important that we elect people who are good for our country. If we do not vote, if we do not work on it, then we do not get a leader to our liking,” said Republican Zsuzsanna Araday, of Mountlake Terrace.
In the end, Barack Obama won the Democratic caucus — by a 2:1 margin both statewide and in the 21st — and while legal wrangling was holding up final results at press time, John McCain is edging Mike Huckabee in the Republican caucus.
Democratic turnout in the 21st more than doubled the previous high of 1,500 in 2004, organizers said. The party will have to consider using multiple sites in future elections, district party chairman Richard Wright said Feb. 11.
On the ground, in the precincts, the caucus experience in the 21st district was pretty standard: It was hectic, participants said.
The crowded spaces were too loud for regular conversation, so political debate was shouted and even then barely understood, participants said.
In Edmonds’ 23rd precinct, voters in their teens mingled with voters who were that old before World War II. The caucus featured a precinct chair, Trond Bodal, who became a naturalized citizen three years ago, and at least one eventual delegate, Karen Jacobsen, who plans to attend the party’s national convention.
It had neighbors who knew each other well — “This is like a picnic. We’re just going to tail gate and kegger next time,” three families joked — and others who just got introduced.
It was, in other words, “an effort about as grassroots as anything I can think of,” Bodal said.
When the caucus started, precinct members signed in with their personal information and their “presidential preference.” The preferences were tallied, and supporters for the two primary candidates were split into opposing groups.
Then, at least theoretically, short debates happened. Next, anybody wishing to switch candidates could do that. The final split determined the delegate count, and finally delegates were selected to attend the county caucus in April.
In practice, debate was limited. Voters who were undecided at first blush usually picked a party, but few ever switched parties, participants said.
Some of the most impassioned debate actually seemed to steer undecided voters away from the candidates being supported.
In Edmonds’ 4th, for instance, a life-long Republican trumpeted Obama’s cross-aisle appeal. “He can bring Republicans with him just like he did with me,” said one man, who declined to give his name. The precinct’s two undecided voters ultimately sided with Hillary Clinton.
In Edmonds’ 35th precinct, many voters congratulated two Clinton fans who had spoken eloquently in support. But, the only votes that switched went in Obama’s favor.
The spotlight on Washington state was something all the participants were aware of, they said.
Less than a week after the inconclusive Super Tuesday primary across the country, Washington’s role in deciding which Democratic candidate was ahead, and which candidate had momentum meant the country was watching, Gov. Gregoire said.
“I couldn’t be more proud today to be a Democrat in Washington,” she told the 21st district caucus-goers. “We thought nobody would care about what we say, but the eyes of the nation are on us today.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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