The Democratic Caucus on Mercer Island: I Had No Idea There Were So Many Democrats Here

That’s right, there were enough Democrats on Mercer Island (who knew?) to cause an overflow at Island Park Elementary yesterday. Some notes and thoughts:

• Next time I go, I won’t follow the newspaper’s advice to get there early: the 45- minute introduction went something like this: “I have to read you some things. These are the things I need to read you. Let me find page 2… No, I think we need to read these later. Hold on, I’ll read them now too, just in case.”
  The clock on the wall tracked our inefficiency:
• Remarks from both senior citizens and high school students were inspiring: both in the breadth of speakers and the words themselves.
• Here’s the scene:
• 
• Speaking of high school students, one of the several in our group said that class had been empty on Friday while everyone cut school for Barak’s speech at Key Arena.
• Our group of about 75 came out 60 for Obama, 10 for Clinton and 5 undecided. The speakers for Obama generally came out for a vision of hope; the supporters for Clinton generally came out for experience and electability, and the need for regime change at any cost. Full disclosure: I voted for Obama, though I like Hillary too.
• An elderly gentleman at our table fell asleep during the 45- minute, wandering prologue.
• The democratic leadership focused a lot on the numbers of delegates to be awarded. But the people who showed up clearly wanted to talk about the issues and the candidates. They wanted to discuss their views for the country, and they wanted to be part of something new. In our group we had a little revolt before our leader would stop strategizing about how to award the last delegate and let people talk.
• There was a surprising groundswell for change. The dismay at the current administration was a given by most attendants; the discussion centered on what next.

While our group debated the merits of the candidates, my fiance said he would go eavesdrop on other groups to get the answers.

Enjoy the photos. I loved participating and getting to know my neighbors. And I learned that yes, there are democrats on Mercer Island!