Is a Primary vote for Barak worth a 41-cent stamp?

Not if you want your vote to count at the Democrat convention in August. What you’re voting for is a headline after the Primary closes February 19. (We did send in our ballots. When we were packing to move here, we found some old stamps and we're using them up. One of our envelopes had six 6-cent stamps and one 5-cent stamp.)

The ballot you received last week didn’t say this election for the Democrats is only a “straw vote”, but it is. (If you want to vote for Ron Paul, your Republican ballot will count, partially – go to www.wsrp.org for information.)

If you want to help decide who the Democrats run in the November election, go to the caucus on Saturday. Nine precincts from this corner of the county will meet at the American Legion Hall in Birch Bay, sign up from 12 noon to 1 p.m. (or maybe 1:30 by some accounts, but you don't want to be late).

As the Seattle Times explained in a good article on January 28, Saturday’s local caucuses, the first level of a five-step process, will select 33,000 delegates to legislative-district caucuses. On April 5, these legislative-district delegates select 2,000 regular delegates and 1,000 alternates to congressional-district caucuses and the state party convention. On May 17, the congressional-district delegates select 51 delegates to serve as the State Democratic party’s Election Committee; these delegates also go to the national convention. On June 14-15, at the state convention in Spokane, the Election Committee selects 29 additional delegates to join them at the national convention. Also joining the delegation will be 17 “super delegates” – party leaders and election officials. The final step, on August 25-28, finds 97 delegates and 13 alternates from Washington attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Of those 97 delegates, 46 of them, almost half of the total, will be uncommited to the initial voters – no wonder the U.S. loses out to Sweden in lists of “pure” Democracies. This uncommitted factor may be important. As Jonathan Alter of Newsweek explained to Keith Oberman on MSNBC’s ‘Countdown’ Monday evening, “Whatever happens on ‘Super Tuesday’, this thing will go on.”

For now, let us honor our local volunteers. Bob Henricks, whose home is in Blaine, is the site leader for the Democrat caucus at the Legion on Saturday. He’s captain for Precinct #301. Other captains are: #302, Wendy Davis; #303, Fay Adams and Bryan Dickson; #102, Ronda Fleming and Julie Pruitt; #103, Jean Savidge and Alexis Staley; #104, Karen Dolphin, #106, Pat Brush; #107, Elizabeth Ivory; #109, Rick Poitras and Trudee Smith.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Last Friday evening, we were among 20 guests in the elegant home of Larry and Barbara Daugert, who have a horse farm west of Ferndale. There we had the opportunity to meet Dean Fluker, a field organizer in the Obama campaign.

Most of the guests were committed to Barak. Barbara Daugert said this is the first election since Eugene McCarthy that she doesn’t need to hold her nose. One man with a full head of biblical white hair – a well-aged hippie – spoke passionately about the need to change the direction of the country, to get out of the many military bases the U.S. has in foreign countries and to support other elements of the progressive agenda. (Asked if he has read books by Chalmers Johnson, ‘Blowback,’ ‘The Sorrows of Empire’ and ‘Hubris’, he laughed and said his wife tells him about them.)

We were there mainly to see what an Obama organizer is like, and we weren’t disappointed. Here is a young man – at 23, young enough to be grandson of some of the participants -- who’s been in the state only a few days, assigned to cover five counties. Ten days before the caucuse,s he’s sitting there relaxed as if nothing more is on his mind than the people in this living room.

Two younger women said they were uncertain. One asked many questions, seeking ammunition for arguments with her older sister. Fluker asked the other woman to describe what she wanted in a President. Her answer sounded like she could be Al Gore’s sister. Fluker said, “You’ve just described Barak Obama.” He elaborated a bit but didn’t dominate the discussion.

His most salient point was that the anti-war speech Obama made in 2002 came as he was preparing to run for the Senate; many Illinois politicians said being against the war would be disastrous for his candidacy. Wrong.

This meeting was informational. There was no request for money. When we asked Fluker if he had enough, he said, “I think so but I haven’t checked my bank account lately.” He said contributions should be made via the Internet at http://www.barackobama.com.

Would you want your granddaughter to date an Obama organizer?

“Absolutely,” says Ruth.