Welcome to the blog of the new Precinct 648 Republican Committeeman, and delegate to the state convention this year.
Hold the applause. This is from Denver, where apparently going to Republican caucuses is one of those jobs that Americans just won't do. About 70 precincts met in the lunchroom of a local middle school, with each table set up for three precincts. There were three people there from my precinct, for three delegate slots. The state convention is on a Saturday, so if there's any writing involved, everyone's going to know who I voted for, if they care.
The fact is, for Colorado, the Republican map is inverted from the population centers. If the caucuses were organized like high schools, Denver and Boulder would house all the single-A schools and 8-man football teams. Kind of like Dennis Quaid's team in The Rookie, where showing up isn't 90% of life, it's closer to 99%.
Colorado has a strange schizophrenic system. There's a caucus, which selects the candidates who appear on the ballot for the primary. Then there's the primary. The caucus system has come under increasing attack as an anachronism, with some justification. But the parties get to pick the candidates, and there's no good reason why that task shouldn't fall to those most involved. The primary avoids smoke-filled room deals, although since the legislature is on the way to outlawing smoking, that's less of a threat now, anyway.
The other thing that the caucuses and conventions do is send resolutions to the national party for possible inclusion in the platform, so it remains the best way to gauge the party's collective wisdom, or, in the Democrats' case, its collective insanity.
Now for the fun. After tomorrow, I'll be on every candidate's mailing and phone list. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Fellow RMA member Clay Calhoun was also elected a delegate from the somewhat more-competitive Elbert County. The RMA begins its Long March to power.
UPDATE: Ray A. Rayburn, delegate from Boulder, has some useful clarifications in the comments section.
Comments
"Welcome to the blog of the new Precinct 648 Republican Committeeman, and delegate to the state convention this year."
Congratulations. See you at the State Convention.
"If the caucuses were organized like high schools, Denver and Boulder would house all the single-A schools and 8-man football teams."
In Boulder County about 2/3 to 3/4 of the GOP precincts nobody shows up. We held two precinct meetings in my house last night, and for the other precinct no one showed up.
"There's a caucus, which selects the candidates who appear on the ballot for the primary."
Not quite. The caucus selects delegates to the various assemblies. The assemblies vote on the candidates. Only if no candidate gets 70% of the vote at the assembly is there a primary for that race.
"The other thing that the caucuses and conventions do is send resolutions to the national party for possible inclusion in the platform, so it remains the best way to gauge the party's collective wisdom, or, in the Democrats' case, its collective insanity."
The resolutions also shape the platforms of the County and State party organizations.
Posted by: Ray A. Rayburn | March 22, 2006 9:04 AM
Also one of us at MHD got elected to the state, state senate district 16 and county (jefferson) assemblies. I'd say that we are in the heart of the political storm. (esp. since we are located in state house district 23, and boy did we get a show from one of the Republican candidates at the caucus).
I'll post on it this weekend.
Posted by: mile high delphi | March 23, 2006 8:23 PM