2008
Week 5
February 10, 2008

Hi

“Nebraska has first caucus” trumps all the news. I am not speaking politically, except in the true meaning of politics: how the people make public decisions.

I have been a Republican for most of my life, so can speak for both parties. I have never before been allowed to express my opinion in selecting a president, when it mattered.

What a blast! Four times more people than we could imagine. In the caucus I chaired we had a total fire capacity of 350. We had 1,327 sign in, and more who gave up on the lines and went home. We had 17 stations to sign in/register. That is a lot, but not enough to sort out that number in two hours. We had over 300 of those who were changing registration, which of course is a much slower process.

We divided to two rooms, one a block away. Both were the same. Crowded. Noisy. Excited. Joyful. Shouting across the room. Waving signs. Motioning to friends in the other group. Trying to sneak the mike away from me so they could put the final persuasion to the whole crowd. (By the rules, only two persons may speak to the caucus, each limited to 1 1/2 minutes.) It was extreme fun. And very frustrating. I loved it.

Outside, in freezing weather, we had a crowded sidewalk over two blocks long. When we saw the impossibility of getting them inside I sent stewards out with packs of the blue cards (which became ballots in the caucus) for persons to fill out as absentee ballots. They could fill them out, turn them in, and go home. All ballots count the same, but they could not be a presidential delegate to our county convention if they left. Since we had only 15 to elect out of the crowd most were glad enough to get out of the cold and let those inside select. A few stayed in the line so they could get in on the action. All in all, I was glad for their quick response though it was most discouraging that excited citizens could not get in on the vibrating enthusiasm inside.

My joy in all this is not about candidates, but the people. Can you imagine? That the folks of either party would get excited about participating in democracy? I am a geezer and I have never seen anything like it. The American spirit is alive and well!

Grump. The voter lists are filled with errors. Persons who have voted for years were not on the list. It has been this way for all 12 years of my use of these lists. Persons dead for 30 years are on the list. Some moved out of state 20 years ago and we have no way of taking them off. “We can't get it correct because of computers.” Hello?

Funniest moment for Lowen. For this I will have to name candidates. To be “viable” for votes in the county convention, a candidate must have 15% of the total count, including absentee, but excluding “undecided” if they are a few. They were. The Obama crowd saw the sparse group on the Clinton side of the room and decided Clinton was not viable. Two Black young adults crossed the gap near to the prominent Clinton supporter, a tall older Black woman, in regal dress, with excellent focus, fully determined and eloquently fluent. The true Black Matriarch. They shouted across the remaining space that she was not viable. O my. I would never say that to her, on any subject. I almost quit breathing.

I reached for the mike, quieted the room, and announced that both candidates were viable. The two guys turned on me and shouted “You can see they do not have enough. How can you say that?” I said, “I am the chair and what I say is the rule. We do not have an actual count because we cannot get a count of hundreds of absentee votes outside this room. I declare that both candidates are viable.” They quickly backed down.

My room was out in 50 minutes. We told them to stay if they wanted to be a representative to the county, otherwise to mark their ballots, receive our thanks, have another donut, and go home. Then we began counting. Thankfully for Lowen, Clinton was viable on the final count. Barely. For the record, Clinton - 3, Obama - 12. Douglas County generally was 3 to 1 for Obama. The state was 2 to 1. Western Nebraska was about even.

Obama had a standing room only rally two days before. His wife had a crowd in Lincoln. Chelsea Clinton had rallies in three cities. So we began printing more blue cards early.

In the legislature, we are in a quandary about national ID. It is expensive, could hurt the poor, will make drivers' licenses harder to get, but, eventually, will be the federal law. You will not be able to even get in a federal building without a federally approved ID.

It reminds me of a cartoon in a German paper during the early days of the cold war, when Germans, as usual, could go nowhere without papers. It is a satire about “beamten,” officials who had no authority to make rules but were arrogant as they enforced them. The officer at the car window demands to know, “Why are your papers in order?”

Get ready to defend yourself for doing things correctly. Next week, more on the death penalty, electrocuting our electric chair, and a wonderful story of a Nebraska farm boy who now has 20 companies and a passion for rural entrepreneurs.

Are your papers in order?

Lowen