Not an Arsenal for Democracy

Before it gets completely out of date, I thought I would let the world know what I had learned at my local Washington State caucus.

I could simply say how these caucuses aren't as good as the ones I participated in when younger, back home, which for me is in Minnesota.

This will make me sound like a cynical old man*.

But something about these proceedings struck me as fundamentally wrong.

From my perspective, a precint caucus is supposed to be a face to face a meeting of persons committed to a party and its idea.  That is a grass roots event.

It should occur more frequently than every four years, and be more than a tool of a presidential campaign.

I did not attend a precinct caucus, but attended a number of caucuses held in a moderately sized multi-purpose, Gymnasium basketball.

This denotes a certain lack of serious as a grass roots event.  We might have almost have been face to face but:

1. No one could hear.
2. The convenor didn't really know the rules 
3. Information wasn't shared (I didn't find out the date for the convention for which I was selected as a noncommitted delegate until I googled)   

Worst of all, the only thing accomplished was vote on a presidential candidate.

We have an open congressional seat and an open state legislature, but we didn't discuss those.

We didn't select precinct officers, discuss party organization, or (shudder) the platform. should've been discussing those issues we should've been electing our precinct officers.

We didn't discuss how to get together and divide work for the election.

We didn't function as a party meeting.

What did happend was to fall into the tramp of personality cultism, which seems to permeate the American left.  Neither Sanders nor Clinton will govern without an effective political infrastructure.  The other side has it.

I don't know how to fix this locally.  Even if I thought there were those about me who thought this congenial, I am not a person who could rally them**.  Mind, even if I tried, literally no one would have heard me in that room.

To change the political system, an organized party, with some discipline, is required.  Not a hero culture.


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*"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- GBS

**Contrary to what many people think, I am not unself aware, and know the limitations of my personality.