Posts Tagged ‘ caucus ’

Back from the Caucus 09 February 2008 at 5:05 pm by 637 views

Wow, that was the craziest thing ever. The caucus was set to start at 12:00, so Jess and I arrived at 10:30 so we weren’t late. We registered early and sat down. We were told they were estimating about 800 people. Around 11:30 they probably already had over 1000 people inside and were starting to panic. Apparently traffic was backed up and there were lines out the door. At 12:00 we were told to move from the cafeteria to the main entry way as they were running out of room. At 1:00 they announced they’d be running late because they were still letting in the lines of people.

By 1:30 we were told to go into the gym, and it was instantly packed… with just 3 districts! There were still people in other areas. The current estimate is around 3000 people showed up for the caucus. As far as our districts went, we seemed about evenly split down the Clinton/Obama border (I couldn’t tell who had more supporters, seemed pretty even… not a sweep for either candidate), not really seeing that many Undecided voters.

We were finally able to cast our ballots (in a sense) and get out of there by 2:30. It was a madhouse. As we were leaving we heard other districts just starting. I’d almost assume people are still there. Even though it was a complete madhouse, I’m glad I went. I got to talk to a few fellow Hillary Clinton supporters, as well as a few Barack Obama supporters and they all were very nice and articulate on why they liked their candidate. Amazingly all said they’d support either candidate if they won, and they hoped whichever got the nomination would take the advice from the other. I was surprised at how civil it was!

Now, I didn’t bring my camera because we weren’t sure if they’d allow it, so all I have are some cell phone shots, but they get the point across that there were plenty of Clinton supporters at the Sarpy County Caucus:

NE Caucus

NE Caucus

Now we sit and wait for the results. The Omaha Channel is keeping track with live updates here, and I’m sure CNN will as well as the day goes on. Now it’s time for me to go back to redesigning this site! I’ve got quite a start and I can’t wait to see it in action! Until next time, folks!

UPDATE: Seems they estimated for less than 500 and had over 6000 (from KMTV News):

A sea of Nebraska Democrats packed into the gym at Papillion La Vista South High School. Organizers only expected about 500 people at this caucus site . The county chairman says 6,000 showed up.

+ It’s Caucus time! By 08 February 2008 at 10:46 pm 364 views No Comments

Tomorrow is the big day! Hopefully we get a large turn out… more tomorrow!!

+ Visit with Chelsea Clinton By 07 February 2008 at 9:01 pm 247 views No Comments

Today while everyone was clamoring to the completely packed Obama convention here in Omaha, Jess and I heard through the grapevine that Hillary had sent Chelsea to speak on her behalf down in Lincoln. We called UNL (where she was going to be) and got all of the information. We both took half the day off and ran down to Lincoln to see what was going on.

We arrived close to 2:00 PM (when she was scheduled to speak) and the place was packed:

What a crowd!

That pic is just a corner, we were toward the center, and it got even more full as time went on. Anywho, at about 2:15 Chelsea made her appearence. She gave a little speech, then told us that she would answer any questions we had for the next hour or so. The questions ranged from Immigration Reform, to Education, to Environmental Problems. We even had an exchange student from China who asked what Hillary’s stance on Taiwan and Chinese relations were.

Chelsea Speaking

Chelsea managed to answer all of our questions (though she said that if we asked anything she didn’t know, that to just give her our e-mail address and she’d ask her mom and e-mail us the answer), although she ran out of time at the end leaving some people hanging (she did apologize and looked quite upset that she couldn’t get to everyone). After the questions she took time to meet with anyone who wanted to talk to her, get an autograph, or picture. Jess and I got a chance to meet her, I shook her hand and told her that as a New Yorker myself that I was proud of her mom and that she should be proud of her too (which she said she was). She asked if we were going to the caucus on Saturday and we told her we would be there and she told us thanks and took a picture with us:

Chelsea and Us!

I kind of wasn’t ready for the picture to be taken, so please ignore me looking so goofy. After that we took off back to Omaha (after a short stop at the Licorice Store). It was a nice time and I’m hoping there will be a decent turnout for Hillary on Saturday! I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! Until next time, folks!