Today, Saturday February 1, 2014, I visited a party
caucus for the first time, however briefly. This was the Democratic Party
caucus for the Arlington County Board election.
I have worked as an “election judge” three times in
the past, but this event is quite different from an election or even a
primary.
The process takes a little longer than a primary
with voting machines. You go past
several stations, fill out a form, have it typed into a computer (PII, not sure
how safe it is), and fill out a paper ballot.
You rank the candidates, so there can be multiple ballots. The place was pretty crowded, and high school
and middle school students were directing cars onto the mud lot. This was held at the Kenmore Middle School,
which has a new building, replacing the low-rise when I subbed there in
2005. A new building probably helps with
student behavior.
I did not stick around for multiple ballots, but
many people did.
There are some interesting local issues, such as
building a streetcar line on a road that is halfway between the two major Metro
lines.
Candidates were present, dressed in business suits,
greeting people.
I sometimes get asked why I won’t run for
office. I actually considered running
for the US Senate from the Libertarian Party in Minnesota in 2000, but a more
aggressive and suitable candidate (especially on the Second Amendment issues)
appeared, fortunately. People say that
only in office can you affect policy. I
say that in fact bloggers and artists affect perception and therefore policy,
sometimes without having to compete with others in a no-gatekeeper
environment. That can be a double-edge proposition, and become
existential. If the world is so corrupt
that I don’t want to run through regular channels, why should I care if my
writing makes a difference? And the “umbrella
nature” of my news coverage (how that came to be is another discussion) may
simply be seen as baiting people into doing outrageous things with the idea
that a blogger like me has to write about and draw attention to them.
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