Huzzah!

The caucus was pretty damn exciting, if you ask me (which I'll assume you do, since you're taking the time to read this). I showed up just after the doors were to have opened, and the line outside the door was already a block and a half long. I got in pretty quickly, though; after chatting with a couple of Clinton supporters (and pwning them with the fact that Senator Obama has been an elected representative for longer than Senator Clinton so her experience claims are pretty weak - Illinois State Senate FTW) a second line for last names starting with M-Z opened up and I shot up to right outside the door. The elections office managed not to screw up my party registration (which I had the good sense to check on the last day you could register and participate in the caucus, seeing as they'd put me down as an independent) so I signed in quickly.

About 530 people voted in Sheridan County - a better than ten-fold increase over participation in 2004. The energy in the room was pretty high, particularly among my fellow Obama supporters. My parents were both there; Dad said they had to show up to "cancel me out." I need to get him a "Billary" sticker. When we split into groups for the candidates, it seemed like almost every person going the other way to the Clinton camp was (1) old and (2) female.

In the end, Obama won with about 60% of the vote. Hillary had the rest, save two uncommitted votes. I also put my name in to be a delegate at the state convention, and wound up as an alternate. Plus, I got a sign which is now in my front window at home. I stuck around for the party platform stuff, which was pretty interesting, and got back home around six.

In a move of brilliance, I set the DVR up to record MSNBC's coverage of the caucus - a special weekend edition of Hardball. As soon as the program started at five, they projected Obama to be the winner with about 60% of the vote with 94% of precincts reporting (I heard talk that CNN had called it earlier, but this was the first television I'd seen at the point). Much to my surprise, Chris Matthews had a brief phone interview with Josh Mitchell of The Sheridan Press, a man known in local political circles to be a few tacos short of a combination platter. In the interview, not only did he uphold his reputation but also managed to make the state look like a bunch of ignorant rednecks, saying we usually vote for "white men." I'm pretty sure a letter to the editor will be forthcoming.

So hooray for democracy and a great experience, and a big fat raspberry to the twin headaches of Josh Mitchell and losing an hour of sleep for daylight savings time.

Cheers,
Regis