Oh OK, the Republicans had their precinct convention where they chose precinct leaders and discussed party platforms. They didn't "vote /caucus" again to distribute more delegates.
It was how they were saying it and then someone was passing a SAMPLE sign in sheet BEFORE THE DOOR OPENED which people WERE signing. I think people were signing the sample sheet and then left before we even walked thru the doors.
It was a big ol cluster **** of a situation. It really annoyed the **** out of me. The Obama supporters and Hillary Supporters were friendly with each other. There was fun natured ribbing with each other, but everything was amicable. I don't think it was an Obama people being rowdy and what not. It was more old people volunteering. I hate old people. They were so damn slow to find peoples name. We had to get in line to sign up. And then after you sign up, you get in the other line to vote. And then you get to wait in another line to do the second part of the r****ded two step process. Did I mention I hate old people? Democracy is bull****. Go ahead and crown me King of H-town.
We had about a 700 plus show up at the Democratic caucus up north. They let us in at 7:15 but we had to wait to separate the precincts (there were 4 or 5 precincts) into different rooms. The people inside were polite to each other, there wasn't any bickering at all. People only started to get a little annoyed because it wasn't very organized with the exception of some Obama folks that had been to training sessions and knew to place people by precinct all together first and then divide them up by candidate, then sign in and if you didn't want to be a delegate or vote for precinct chair then you could leave. The count in my precinct which was smaller than others, was 62 Obama to 19 for Clinton. The people that stuck around were chosen as delegates and alternates. The Clinton people had 2 delegates and they each wanted to be chair so we said they could be chair and alternate chair. Overall everybody was friendly and they all seemed pleased that the turnout was so strong.
Looks like my experience wasn't the only one http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030403662_pf.html Tempers Flare as Contests Heat Up By Matthew Mosk and Paul Kane Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, March 5, 2008; A14 Tempers flared at several Texas voting precincts, and the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) traded accusations of rule-breaking yesterday during the hours leading up to evening caucuses where one-third of the state's delegates were to be awarded. In Ohio, elections officials held some polls open for an additional 90 minutes because of winter weather and ballot shortages. The extended voting caused a delay of several hours before the state could ultimately be called for Clinton, largely because of late voting in the Cleveland area, an expected Obama stronghold. In Texas, the two-step process of a primary vote during the day, followed by an evening caucus, had participants waiting under the stars as voting crowds swamped the event. Their turnout delayed the caucus events at numerous precincts across the state. In Laredo, a volunteer organizer brought a microphone and a portable speaker from home to try to calm the crowd. But he was drowned out by chants of "We want to vote!" and "We're getting cheated!" Irregularities in Texas had the campaigns leveling a series of charges against each other: that operatives were trying to gain an upper hand by loading up caucus sheets with signatures before the evening events started, that biased precinct chairs were locking the caucus venues before rival supporters could enter, and that campaign supporters had stolen the packet of materials that granted them control of the caucus site. Officials from the Texas Democratic Party issued memos urging the campaigns to play fair. But party officials grew increasingly frustrated with the feuding as the day wore on. "These are two professional campaigns with professional organizations, and we expect both to abide by the rules," said Hector Nieto, a party spokesman. The Clinton campaign took a more aggressive posture, holding a conference call with reporters to allege what Texas campaign manager Ace Smith called a "tremendously disturbing pattern" of behavior by Obama supporters. "What's happening tonight is just truly an outrage," Smith said. In an aggressive bit of pushback, Bob Bauer, general counsel to the Obama campaign, jumped the conference call to dispute the allegations and demand the Clinton campaign "stop attacking the caucus process." "I'm curious to know how is this any different than the series of complaints you've registered against every caucus that you lose?" Bauer asked. He called the Clinton campaign's allegations "meritless." Many Texas Democrats knew this problem was coming. With more than 8,000 precincts and not enough volunteers to serve as captains for the caucus events, the Texas Democratic Party decided that the first person in the door at 7:15 p.m. who picks up the packet of materials from the election judge at the precinct site becomes chair. "If you have a precinct that doesn't have a chair, the first person there picks it up and gets it. The rules are designed to create a race to the packet," said State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, a Clinton supporter who represents El Paso. Clinton campaign lawyers said they grew more concerned after reports of irregularities from supporters. Carolyn Arambula, an advocate for injured workers in San Antonio and a Clinton supporter, said she called the campaign after spotting an Obama operative collecting signatures on a caucus sign-in sheet early in the day. The sheets were supposed to be filled out at the caucus event as proof of each candidate's support. "He had a clipboard in his hand. I recognized the form as the one you would fill out for the caucus meeting," Arambula said. "I thought, 'My God, have you had people fill this out?' " After leveling the accusation, she said the two exchanged tense words outside Rudder Middle School, where voting was occurring. Ohio's elections did not unfold without controversy, either, although state officials mostly blamed a wintry mix that fell on portions of the state. Flood warnings in southern Ohio prompted declarations that, if regular polling places were flooded, voters could go to their local board of elections. State officials said some polling places lost power. "Other than the weather, it has gone pretty well," Brian Shinn, assistant general counsel for the Ohio secretary of state, said in a telephone interview last night. Obama's campaign argued that polls should be kept open an extra 90 minutes in precincts in Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, because of ballot shortages, as well as several other counties with large urban centers. A federal judge rejected the other counties but agreed to extend voting by an additional 90 minutes in about 21 polling sites mostly on the eastern end of Cleveland, which has the highest concentration of African American voters in the state. This followed a judge's decision to keep polling sites in Sandusky County, toward the northwest portion of the state, open because ballot printers broke down. ---------
This caucus sounds like some kind of Nigerian tribal anarchy. Dear Obama supporters, just because you can yell and scream the loudest doesn't mean you win.
The following documented thuggery of Obama supporters in TX caucuses corroborates ROCKET RICH NYC's experience last night: http://taylormarsh.com/ RE: Caucus Irregularities The campaign legal hotline has been flooded with calls containing specific accusations of irregularities and voter intimidation against the Obama campaign. This activity is undemocratic, probably illegal, and reflects a wanton disregard for the caucus process. The three most egregious categories are: 1) Irregularities: Prematurely Taking Precinct Convention Packets by Obama Campaign Numerous calls have shown that Obama supporters prematurely removed convention packets from polling places. Packets may not legally given out until 7:15 PM or when the last voter has cast a ballot in the primary. The Texas State Party warned the Obama campaign in writing that they may not take these packets early or remove them from the polling locations. The Party directed that these irregularities be reported to law enforcement “since they amount to criminal violations.” The Party stated “removing convention packets . . . will not be tolerated.” 2) Voter Intimidation: Lock-out of Clinton caucus goers by Obama Campaign Numerous calls have been received that the Obama campaign has taken over caucus sites and locked the doors, excluding Clinton campaign supporters from participating in the caucus. The Clinton supporters have been unable to enter the premises to caucus. In at least one instance, law enforcement was called and forcibly opened the caucus site. 3) There are numerous instances of Obama supporters filing out precinct convention sign-in sheets during the day and submitting them as completed vote totals at caucus. This is expressly against the rules. The sign-in sheets were copied by the Obama campaign from the Texas Democratic Party website and taken by supporters to various polling places to sign-up caucus goers prior to the start of the caucuses
wnes - WOW, that's horrible. Unexpected? Probably not yelling, screaming and bending the rules: Obama 08
You are such a freakin' racist. I've lost count of the kinds of posts like this that you and the other Bobbsey Twin make. Impeach Bush.
again, criticism of Obama = racism in the liberals' minds. Is that all you got? Yelling, screaming, intimidation, threatened violence....sounds like tribal anarchy not unlike that of Nigeria
I have to admit, you know how to walk the line. I mean you could have said it sounds like a european soccer match, something most people can relate to. I don't know who on this site can relate to tribal anarchy in nigeria, being as very little of us has probably seen this even on television. but i'll just say its interesting the analogies you choose
Sounds like part of the Obama grassroots campaign strategy? He will stay above the fray, keep the clean image, no mud-slinging, and leave the dirty work to the foot soldiers. Brilliant strategy for caucus states.
I don't buy that at all. Have you ever been to a caucus? I have. Any anarchy is just the result of too many people and not enough space, not enough election volunteers. There is no way the majority of caucuses were as wacked as the one described. My guess would be that most were orderly, if time consuming. Impeach Bush.
yeah, except these charges only came out in tx which knew it was going to be unprepared to handle the number of voters. but that's his campaign strategy.
LOL ... by contrast, the experience yesterday morning my wife and I had at our polling place -- a small Baptist church around the corner -- was almost like having breakfast with British Royal family. The weather was very bad, though, raining, windy and cold. By the way, I just checked result in our precinct, it's about the same as that of the state-wide, 53.8% Clinton vs 45.1% Obama.
