Suck My Big Nevada Caucus! January 17
Oh yes… Just like that. Mmmmm The sweet taste of political relevance! No more voting in Texas where the rural, overwhelmingly conservative vote and Washington influence usually makes the primary election winners a foregone conclusion.
Since different states have different primary election or caucus rules, it turns out that the Republican Party does not allow you to vote in their caucus in Nevada unless you are a registered Republican, unlike the Democratic Party, who allows you to register as a Democrat at the time of the caucus. This is unfortunate, because unlike some states, such as Texas where I grew up, you can fully intend to vote Libertarian, Green Party, Dem, Republican, or whatever in the general election, but weigh in with your vote in the primary election for another party. The way it works in the Nevada Caucus, the Democratic Party in effect allows that by letting you register as a Democrat at the time of the caucus to select the party’s candidates before the general election, and that’s what I intend to do. If the Republican Party weren’t a bunch of conservative elitists they would allow you to do the same thing and I would be showing up at that caucus to cast a vote for Ron Paul, even though I know he has almost no chance of winning the general election. I’ve been a Libertarian Party member since 1994 and I would definitely want to give him every chance of making it as far as possible and hopefully share some Libertarian ideals with some people along the way.
As it stands, Hillary Clinton is expected to carry Nevada, but a judge has ruled today to allow “at large caucuses” on the Strip in casinos. The reason why something so arcane actually matters is that a large number of minority voters work in Strip casinos and are members of the Culinary Union. That union has pledged its support to Barack Obama. That support is not worth nearly so much if all the voting members are at work in kitchens on the Strip, so they have gotten a judge to rule in favor of allowing these workers to hold caucuses at their workplaces so that they can vote. It’s possible that that might make it hard for Hillary Clinton to win Nevada, which is now considered a key early primary/caucus state. It’s nice being important! I’m fairly certain having such growth in recent years and more importantly having the Senate majority leader being from your state were huge factors, but I’m glad that they moved our caucus to this timeframe. Nevada is an important state and needs more politically and socially aware, positive attention pointed its direction.
What is a caucus, you ask? Well, in the context discussed here, it’s a form of primary election that causes the participants to take - literally - a more active role in the process. You have to show up to your precinct at a specified time and register, et cetera. Then, instead of casting a secret ballot, at the time of the vote in your precinct, you walk over to a prearranged part of the room to stand next to your choice of candidate. If there is not a clear winner, it becomes time to actually discuss politics! You can choose to be silent if you want, but it’s actually encouraged that you speak your mind as to why you feel your candidate is best and try to sway the other voters to cast their vote for your candidate. It’s a more active approach to being involved politically, at least in the primary elections. I’ve never participated in a caucus before, so I am really kind of excited about it.
I love caucus (and I can not lie!)