[Iowa-dx] Quick caucus report

[Richard Johnson]

Burlington - Precinct 2 - 10 delegates to county convention
Total turnout: 199
1. Obama - 96 (5 delegates) - picked up 8 from starting count of 88
2. Clinton - 56 (3 delegates) - only picked up 2 from starting count of 54
3. Edwards - 43 (2 delegates) - picked up 8 from starting count of 35)
4. Undecided - 4

The convention was truly disorganized.  Over 200 folks (including
observers, reporters and youth) were crammed into a room designed and
rated to hold 75.  Terrible planning.  The count of 199 was a best
guess by the campaign precinct captains and the caucus chair.  The
voting took over an hour.  Once the results were announced everyone
left...except me. :-)  I submitted 6 platform planks, and the caucus
chair said they would all be sent on to the county convention.  They
were:

1. Resolution supporting optical scanned ballots
2. Resolution supporting post-election audits
3. Resolution supporting passage of the Fair Elections Now Act (US
Senate File 1285) and Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections Act (Iowa House
File 805 & Senate File 553)
4. Resolution opposing amendment to outlaw same-sex marriages
5. Resolution supporting local control over siting of factory farms
6. Resolution supporting even-handed US role in Israel/Palestine
conflict, and condemning blatant favoritism of past administrations


Burlington Precinct 1 - 312 attendees (my son attended there)
1. Obama - 111
2. Edwards - 102
3. Clinton - 96


After standing for Kucinich and being declared non-viable, my wife and
I were two of the most popular folks in the room.  One of the Hillary
workers approached us and saw my Green Party button, swallowed hard,
and tried to court us to her side.  This is the same woman who
accosted me at the county fair last summer when I was distributing
literature near the Democratic booth, calling me a traitor and that I
was responsible for the mess we had in Bush.  Tonight, I smiled at her
and let her do her best to try to persuade me.  It was fun!

I had a couple of folks talk to me about the Greens as we were waiting
for the caucus to start, and one of them took a card I had with the
website information (business cards are the cheapest publicity piece
ever).  A couple of others talked with me as we were waiting for the
counting to take place.  I was pleasantly surprised that this many
folks actually were interested in what we were doing in the state.
Not a bad night, all things considered.  Now I just need to wait a few
days and then re-register as Green!

On another note...who do we have working the Story County area
(outside of ISU)?  I have a friend up there who asked about our
caucus, and is very interested in learning more about us.  I would
LOVE to pass her off to someone local.  This woman has a huge amount
of energy and would be a good asset for a local chapter if her
interest is strong enough.

Rick Johnson