Yes, being finally back in the state of Iowa for the caucuses this time around I had thought that I might have to give this one a miss. I thought maybe, just maybe if I run on down to the Hamburg Inn I can cast my coffee bean and leave it at that. Sadly, when (very hungover I might add: cider and that alcoholic whipped cream they sell at Hy-Vee equals a very bad idea) I managed to get down there early this afternoon they had already wrapped it up and ludicrously, Michelle Bachmann had won. (Which should be a minor consolation to her as she's looking to finish close to the bottom tonight.)
I also experienced some last minute reluctance due to the fact that none of the Republican candidates really got me all that excited. Was it really worth it to change voter registration just to cast my vote in these things? Would it be a total waste of my time as I wasn't really planning on voting for any of them anyway? I almost convinced myself that the deadline to change registration had probably passed but then learned that you can 'switch teams' right at the door on caucus night, so I found the necessary identification and decided to head on over to Southeast Junior High to participate in one of Iowa's grand traditions.
(I should pause here for a brief, important aside: I'm an independent, kids- if you didn't know, I might have mentioned casting entirely fictional Kids Vote votes for Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996- it takes a lot to get me to vote for either of the two parties and I tend to measure such decisions on the potential for creating real and lasting change for the good in this country. In 2008, I really believed that President Obama had that potential. But I was also less than pleased with the Congressional Governance of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid so I went Republican for my Congressional races- figuring that a sane President with a Republican Congress might actually inspire some maturity and compromise in Washington. What the hell I was smoking when I came to this decision is still something I'm trying to figure out- because whatever it was, it was very, very, very good.)
Anyway, I'm not really a Republican or a Democrat- I'm a loud, proud Independent who doesn't want to be shackled to tired political parties on their machines- but when it emerged that my Ancient and Venerable Father (Rabid Conservative) was going to not only vote for Newt Gingrich but speak for him as well, I felt that I had to bring some good karma back to the family name by countering his actions with a vote for Ron Paul. (I was sorely tempted to speak up for Gary Johnson, but since he's running as a Libertarian now, he'll probably be my main 3rd Party Guy. The Republicans did themselves a serious disservice by not giving this guy a closer look. He's like Ron Paul- except he might actually be able to win an election.) Anyway, I bundled up and trundled over to Southeast Junior High to switch teams for a night and participate in the process...
The Quiet Man has spoken often for his hatred of Southeast Junior High and, walking into their old gym, I could see why. The place had the ramshackle feel of a place where adolescent dreams get crushed under the harsh reality of body odor and a sadistic gym teacher. The entire place reeked of industrial cleaner and teenage angst and to be quite frank, brought back so many pleasant memories of junior high for me (spent at the School That Shall Not Be Named at the north side of town) that the words 'threshold of hell' kept coming to mind looking around the place.
The crowd was good- the bleachers, such as they were, were full and there was standing room only along the side and once everyone was in, things went smoothly. Each candidate was allocated 5 minutes for people to speak on their behalf- and if it was 10 people wanting to speak, it was 10 people, if it was 1, it was 1. Ron Paul's peeps kicked things off in fine fashion- they seemed to have an argument prepared and had their shit together. After that, no one really impressed me. No on spoke up for Gary Johnson or Jon Huntsman (another guy that should have gotten more consideration, in my opinion) and everyone else said their thing and moved it right along. Rick Perry's fan might have been my old optometrist from Sears- Larry something or other and he trotted out the old 'Perry can run Texas so he can run Amurica too' argument. Didn't impress me. Bachmann's fans were... well, not impressive. Gingrich's people spent 4 minutes on damage control and 1 minute on an actual pitch and one of Romney's fans spent his time launching an ad-hominem 'talking out of his ass' attack on Ron Paul over the issue of Iran until someone in the crowd asked to hear about Romney. The second speaker for Romney, thankfully, had his shit together and saved it.
Then, everyone cast a vote and I got the hell out of there. (Yes, I know you're supposed to care about precinct delegates and all that jazz- but I was sweaty, tired and hungry- so I didn't.)
UPDATED THIS MORNING: Wow! Romney nips Santorum by 8 votes for the win- ridiculous!
In terms of my predictions- I was wrong. Santorum didn't quite win, but he came close- and Paul finished 3rd which wasn't what I was expecting, but probably should have given the fact that caucusing came in the middle of college students winter breaks. The current meme about Romney is that he can't crack 25% but the problem I see for the others is that none of them have the experienced 'kick you in the balls' campaign staff that Romney seems to have. He's quietly playing for keeps and the others if they want it are going to have to up their game in a big way. If Gingrich is to survive, he needs to have a big showing in New Hampshire and if Santorum is to survive he needs to do the same in South Carolina (along with Perry.) At this point: if Gingrich doesn't come in 1st or 2nd in New Hampshire, he's done. If Perry doesn't do the same thing in South Carolina, he's done and if Santorum can't finish in the top 3 in New Hampshire and the top 2 in South Carolina, his momentum will slow considerably. Which leaves Nevada- which might just be Ron Paul's high noon. But we'll see...
No comments:
Post a Comment