Open Letter to the Washington Democratic Party

[patgund]

I recently wrote you all to ask about the caucus process, as I work on the 9th and I wanted to see if I could show up later and take part in the process.

As I am a new resident to the state of Washington, I had some very valid questions and concerns that I wanted answered.

To date, (8 Feb) you have not bothered to respond.

This is irritating in that:

a) it's quite rude
b) To a new resident unfamilar with the caucus process, it's more than slightly insulting
c) unlike the Washington State GOP, which is allocating 51% of their delegates to the caucus and 49% to the primary election on 19 Feb, you are allocating 100% of your delegates in the caucus. Which effectively nukes the opinion or vote of anyone who can't make it to the primary.

As such, it looks more and more that I will be waiting until the 19th and casting a vote for Ron Paul. He may not be my primary choice, (at this time I'd prefer to vote for Obama), but at least if I vote for Paul, I know that my vote on the 19th will be taken into account, unlike a meaningless vote that you will not take into account because it's not a caucus vote.

Comments

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

suggestion: find a local Obama headquarters/volunteer site and ask them. They'll be eager to have your vote and will be happy to answer your questions.

Though if I am reading this correctly I believe the answer is that, no, showing up late is not OK:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/wacaucuscenter

[patgund.livejournal.com]

I did. Nothing they can do. It's usually a 45 minute process, and if you miss the window, you're SOL.

And the deadline for caucus proxies was the 1st

[smarier.livejournal.com]

I also will be missing it... ARGGGGG... Need to attend a Norwescon meeting.

I have the Proxy form in front of me, and it says the proxy can be dropped off at the caucus site by someone else at 1pm. BUT it does not count as a vote and is not counted towards the allocation of delegates.. What it says is that you are willing to be a precinct delegate if no one else in your precinct can do it.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

It's silly to me. They're doing a caucus AND a primary election, but the state Democratic party is ONLY counting the caucus. You would think they would do the same half and half that the GOP is doing - or have multiple sets of caucuses

[smarier.livejournal.com]

The democrats did not want to have the primary, it was forced on them by the state. So they said fine, no delegates.

The democrats do have multiple sets of caucuses, the problem is you need to be elected a delegate to attend pass the first one. I was a delegate to the second level 4 years ago, I considered trying for the 3rd level but just didn't have the time to commit.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

The problem I see is this:

On voting day, you have about a 12 hour window to vote in. With this caucus system, you have a 90-120 minute window. That kicks a lot of people out. And I can't be the only one that has to work during that window.

[beki.livejournal.com]

I believe it starts at about 1 or 1:30. I know you are going to be working, but you can at least look at where you are supposed to caucus at go here: http://wa-demchairs.org/2008/caucuslocations.php

[beki.livejournal.com]

Yeah the state lost a huuuuge lawsuit with the Democratic party. We didn't used to have do go through this caucus BS. I am not happy because I have class til 5. I am going to have to make arrangements to leave at 1. Such a mess. :/

BTW, Nice to see you Shaun. I didn't know you two knew each other.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one who's annoyed about this. This will be my first caucus. Why? Because I'm currently unemployed and this will be the first time I've not had to work on Saturday.

Why they want to disenfranchise people is beyond me. It's undemocratic.

[electorprince.livejournal.com]

Because in spite of their sweet words, the Democrats have always been about themselves first, and you simply don't equate except as a tool from which to either take money from or give someone else's money to. Your vote is irrelevant, as are your needs; all they want from you is wholesale compliance with their Big Plan, which at this stage is simply Get Into The White House.

Your choices are far more simple than most, though, thanks to them. You can vote Republican, or ipso facto not vote at all. Welcome to socialism, comrades.

And then there's Ron Paul. . .or Stephen Colbert as a write-in, but I think we all know how that will go.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

I worked on Dr. Paul's presidential campaign in 1984. I also voted for McCain in 2000.

Given a choice, I'd rather vote for Ron Paul again. The McCain that told off the Religious Right and was dirty tricked by Karl Rove in 2000 is not the same McCain that kowtows to the Religious Right and takes money from Karl Rove in 2008. And has such, does not deserve my vote.

As for the actions of the Washington Democratic Party, I know how people in MI and FL feel. Though in those cases, they were told what would happen if the primary was moved up. And in those cases, all the Democratic challengers for President agreed in writing not to fund-raise, appear on the ballot, or campaign in those states. An agreement that Sen. Clinton proceeded to flaunt - yet another reason not to vote for her in my opinion. (Great tactic though - get all the people running against you to take their names off the ballot, then leave yours on. Once you win, argue in favour of seating the delegates from those states anyway.........great tactic. Sneaky, underhanded, dirty pool, and possibly unethical, but a great tactic.)

In Washington's case, the party didn't want a primary, it was forced on them, and they said "fine, but we'll ignore the votes and caucus anyway". Real fucking mature people. Real fucking mature.