Our state’s Presidential Primary is exactly two months away (February 19). But its results will only count for roughly a fourth of our state’s voice in the presidential nomination process – all state Democratic delegates, and 49% of the Republican delegates, will be chosen in a process starting at the statewide caucuses on February 9. Members of our area’s best-organized political group, the 34th District Democrats, already are working to get out the word about those meetings. For those who haven’t participated in caucuses before – or are wondering why the focus is on the caucuses and not the primary – we sent questions to 34th DD chair Ivan Weiss; the Q & A with his e-mailed replies is just ahead. (Disclaimer, we know there are 34th District Republicans out there somewhere too – we’ve just never heard from them! Can’t find any comprehensive info about GOP caucuses online, either.)
WSB Q: How does someone know where to go and when to participate in the caucus?
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Ivan Weiss reply: All that information will be posted on the 34th District Democrats’ Web site at www.34dems.org, or you can contact your Democratic Precinct Committee Officer. If you don’t know what precinct you are in or who your PCO is, you can find it at
https://www.metrokc.gov/elections/pollingplace/voterlookup.aspx, or to find out who your PCO is, call Ivan Weiss at 206-463-4647 or Jackie Dupras at 206-935-9683, and we’ll connect you with your PCO and tell you where your caucus location is.
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WSB: Do you have to be preregistered somehow?
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IW: No. Just show up. But if you’d like to help, your PCO would love to hear from you before the caucus.
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WSB: What should someone do to prepare to participate effectively?
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IW: Have an idea who you’d like to be the Democratic nominee and why, and be prepared to persuade your neighbors.
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WSB: How long will it take, what will happen during the caucus, and when it’s over, what will the result be – and how does that result help determine who winds up on the ballot in November?
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IW: Sign-in begins at 1 PM; the precinct caucuses begin at 1:30 sharp. They can’t end before 2 PM. At worst they would be over by 3 PM. They will select delegates for each candidate from the Legislative District to go to the County Convention, then on to the State Convention. The state Convention will determine Washington’s delegates to the National Convention in Denver, which will select a nominee.
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WSB: Why is the presidential focus on the caucuses in our state instead of the presidential primary? Why isn’t it better if we all just go to the precinct and vote?
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IW: The Washington State Democratic Party is, to the extent that we can make it so, a party of grass-roots activists. That could be you, or your neighbors, or any Democrat who wants to help us create a better country and a better world. We like to think that takes a little bit more commitment than just mailing in a ballot. For some, that is all they are able to do. For others, we want them to know that our state party belongs to us, and not to the national campaigns, or their consultants, or their “media people” who would love to reduce national policy and politics to 30-second ads and pocket large paychecks while doing so. We, and not they, are the Democratic Party in this state, and for that reason, we caucus with our neighbors.
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WSB: With so many states moving primaries earlier, won’t all the deciding be over by then anyway? If it seems like there’s a clear frontrunner, why should someone still go to their caucus?
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IW: First, we don’t know and can’t be sure that everything will be “over by then,” and we can’t proceed under that assumption. Second, because the caucuses are also to mobilize active Democrats who care not only about what goes on in Washington DC, but also in this Washington. We have to mobilize to re-elect Governor Gregoire and our Representatives Jim McDermott and Adam Smith (part of the 34th is in Adam’s District), elect a Democratic Attorney General and Lands Commissioner, and maybe to provide one of those statewide
offices with the margin of victory in a close race by maximizing our turnout.
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WSB: Anything else you want people to know? What about those who might feel like they just can’t be bothered — explain to them “here’s why you should take the time.”
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IW: Because Edmund Burke’s words have never been more true: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke left out the women but certainly we do not.
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Again, that’s Saturday afternoon, February 9th, caucuses for Washington state Democrats *and* Republicans. As for the 2/19 primary and how it relates to the caucuses, this state document explains.
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