The caucus is coming! The caucus is coming!

It’s the most unsexy, exciting political time of the election season and Nevada has it’s very own slice of the pie on Jan. 19. Even if it is sort of a sliver.

I have to admit that I’m, eh, slightly not that excited about the caucus/primary-fest happening right now. Mostly because I have campaign fatigue. (I know, it’s early for fatigue. I’m counting on a second wind.) I keep asking myself, “Does any of this actually matter to anyone other than political junkies and newshounds?” And does any of this actually do a good job of predicting, well, anything? After a cursory perusal around the internets the best I can come up with is: nobody actually knows for sure. But let’s do it anyway!

So, I thought maybe a good place to start was to get a primer on what exactly a caucus is, anyway. Turns out, the Dems and the Reps have different rules. One thing I find interesting is that the Dems are allowing anyone to come as long as they register Dem that day while the Reps are requiring that you already be a registered Republican to take part. And there’s one official website for the whole thing, too.

But aside from any partisanship, I like how the Dems explain it on their website:

A caucus is a gathering of neighbors who meet to discuss grassroots politics. Democrats will join with others in their precinct to pledge their support for their favorite presidential candidate and thereby award delegates to the candidates.

Caucuses are different than primaries because caucus participants do more than just support a candidate for president – they also participate in other party business such as electing delegates to the county convention and submitting resolutions to the party platform to be considered by the platform committee at the county convention. The caucus is also the first step a Democrat needs to take in order to become a delegate to the national convention, which will be held in Denver, Colorado, in 2008.

Okay, so this whole thing is a chance for us regular folks to get together and say our piece and hopefully have an influence on not only what issues candidates focus on but which candidate might get the nomination at the convention in Denver later this year. This sounds almost like democracy or something. Keen!

But I don’t mean to just make jokes. If there’s one thing I love about being an American it’s my right to vote. I hold it right up there with my freedom of speech. Especially as a woman, knowing that so many had to fight so hard for me to have this right — voting is pretty special to me. I get all happy every time I vote, even in the little elections that most people don’t care about.

So here’s the idealist magic of the caucus: We can have a voice. For one thing, I know a lot of different groups, such as Planned Parenthood, are organizing to have volunteers show up enmass to represent their issues. This is a beautiful thing! But really, you don’t have to be a part of any organization to have a say or make a difference. Just show up. Participate in this thing called democracy!

I take it back, maybe this caucus thing is sexy. After all, what could be hotter than The People participating in their own government?

— Emmily