Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Caucus Among Us

Everytime I go into the break room, CNN has been talking about the caucus that takes place in Iowa tomorrow. I'm quite excited to see actual wheels of democracy turning (and I'm sure the poor beleagured sods in Iowa are as well), so I have been paying close attention to what's going on. One poll says that Barack Obama, who will sit down to tea with leaders of the world and unite us, is up by seven percent. Another poll says the Democrats are in a three-way dead heat. Another poll says that Barack Obama and John Edwards have formed a secret cabal and are going to short-sheet Hillary Clinton's bed tonight. Either way, I'm excited. And the Republicans are apparently wide open too, with Mr. Religious White close on the heels of That One Guy and the One Who Was a POW. Whatever. They all look alike.

But I realised that I don't actually know what a caucus is, so I turned to my friend the internet. Apparently it's a way of choosing the party's candidate, but the only way to do it is by showing up to the place of voting (Masonic Hall, sweatlodge, local school, etc.) and STANDING IN A CORNER. I would make fun--but then again my favourite country has men in furry bear hats standing guard outside Buckingham palace. There's no way to caucus anonymously, and, God forbid, should a snowstorm strike tomorrow night, the entire system could be thrown into caos. Apparently Hillary Clinton is offering free childcare for her supporters. I don't know what is scarier: leaving your toddler at home surrounded by matches and unguarded outlets or leaving them in the hands of Clinton supporters.

That was really mean. I do like Clinton, I just don't think she'd be able to make our cars run on leftover plastic bottles and teach our children long division, like Barack Obama will.

But don't take my interpretation of the caucus laws for granted, here's another take on it.

Meanwhile, I don't have to do any caucusing, or even any primary voting for awhile (when is the primary in Wisconsin anyway?) my big decision is basically taken up with whether or not I should buy this book. Some of my loyal readers may have cottoned on that I have a little preoccupation with Nelson, starting with an exhibition I saw in 2005 at the National Maritime Museum. (oh, NMM! How I miss thee.) This is the book of the exhibition. The book is a brick of a tome, suitable for coffee tables, alternately, murder. To buy it from the NMM would cost about $100, including shipping, but Amazon has it for $59.95, with free shipping. Still, sixty bucks is a lot of money for a book, but I'm still really impressed with that exhibit, and it would definitely make a nice addition to the Nelson collection I have. A good resource for future projects. hmm... if only I hadn't spent that birfday money on that tattoo...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, no mention of the baby huh? Real priority I see. Anyway, we don't need to know how to do long division, no we don't. If you don't have a cellphone with a calculator go buy one for 5 bucks and you will never be wrong, never. My two cents from someone who spent a lot more on one that he couldn't use in all his math classes. Even though now that I'm out of school I can use it to add 5 and 7.

Nicki said...

what baby?

Anonymous said...

From the beginning I've enjoyed your blog. Each entry expressed a subtle (sometimes not subtle) joy or sorrow. Yesterday was wonderful. You took a simple thing like a nap and expressed it as a sad/sweet experience. I read it several times. There was something there ... a reflection. And then I began to understand you a little, to appreciate ... And then I laughed out loud. It was so obvious. You are a romantic, in the classic sense of the word. And you have the soul of a poet. Do others know this? There's only one thing that confuses me. Why did you choose to be born now, when the first part of the 19th century would have suited you so much better?

Laura said...

new tattoo? What? What?