Minnesota Caucus

I just got back from my first time caucusing. The site for Democrats was at the local Middle School. A few random thoughts:

1) Caucuses are dumb. They're inconvenient, they're chaotic, and they're confusing. Real states just vote.

2) The place was swamped. The line for Carleton's precinct alone was of Soviet breadline proportions, but even overall turnout was incredible. Obama seemed to be the main beneficiary.

3) Minnesota has this weird thing where you can vote for President without staying for the actual "caucus" part (which you need to do to select candidates for any other race). Since I dislike both major Senate candidates and don't really care about the local races, I skipped out. But I'm not sure how, if at all, my vote (hand-written on a blue slip of paper put into a box) counts. My girlfriend thinks maybe it goes towards superdelegates? Or perhaps its just moral suasion because the "winner" in announced. Anyway, apparently the delegates selected at the caucus hold the real power.

4) Traffic jam meant a 3 minute ride to the caucus site took 40 minutes. Great news for democracy, less so for my blood pressure. Also, how to pass time in line at the site? Professor spotting! I bagged three (not including the one who was coordinating at the front of the line).

5) There were many "Obama '08" signs. I read them in my head as "Obamanate", which I think makes a great verb ("We're going to Obamanate this caucus!"). My girlfriend extended it to "Obamanation", until we decided it's too close to abomination.