Students participate in Washington state Democratic caucus
By Ame Phitwong
On Feb. 9, several UP students crossed the Columbia to support their democratic candidates by participating in the Washington Democratic Party's caucus to choose delegates to send to the National Democratic Convention being held in Denver, Colo., Aug. 25 to 28.
Among these students was junior Ben Wolverton, who made the two-hour drive to Olympia show his support for Barack Obama.
"I'm someone who's pretty obsessed with politics," he said. Wolverton, a Washington resident, was elected as a delegate for the first tier to the Legislative District Caucuses on April 5 and the Thurston County Convention on April 19. From that, the elected delegates will be sent to the Congressional District Caucuses on May 17, the Washington State Convention on June 14, and eventually 97 delegates will be elected and sent to the national convention.
"Of course my chances of making it (to the national convention) are pretty slim, but I'd like to hope that I can make an appeal to my youth and get some support at the early conventions," Wolverton said. "I'd be way beyond excited for the chance to attend the final convention," he said.
The first tier is a precinct caucus. In Washington, there are 6,600 precincts. A precinct is where a group of people who live in the same voting area meet together to nominate a presidential candidate.
Wolverton attended the caucus with three other UP students and his mother, all of whom are supporters of Obama. For Wolverton's precinct, five delegates were chosen, four for Obama and one for Hillary Clinton. In total for the state, Obama amassed 21,629 delegates whereas Clinton had 9,992.
"People were excited to see youth involvement," he said. Despite this, Wolverton said young people were still the minority of the crowd, with a majority being middle-aged.
The caucus was free to attend and was open to the public. Registered voters in Washington and those who will be 18 at the time of the presidential election can vote at their designated precinct. Fifty-one delegates will be sent to the state convention on June 13 and 14 in Spokane. From there, 97 will be selected and sent to the national convention.
According to Wolverton, the attendees wore stickers to show which candidate they supported. People without stickers were considered undecided and were approached during a designated 20-minute period by people who have chosen their candidates to try and sway them toward a particular candidate.
"The best part was talking to an undecided person," Wolverton said. "I gave her my spiel about Obama and she actually ended up switching to Obama in the end. I know it wasn't just my talk that changed her mind, but it made me feel good."
Wolverton said it was odd to have political conversations with people he didn't know.
"Especially since we're all Democrats, we essentially agreed on everything," he said.
According to the Washington Democratic Party's Web site, the Washington State Legislature still holds a primary, which can cost around $9 to $10 million. The Washington Democratic Party chooses delegates through the caucuses. Votes for a Democratic candidate in the State Primary will not count toward delegate selection.
Although an Oregon resident and unable to cast a vote, sophomore Jennifer Baker attended the caucus out of curiosity to see how it was operated. Baker described the event as interesting and said the best part was hearing the debates.
"In our generation, it has become clear that voting really does matter," Baker said. "The last few presidential elections have come down to the last vote, which just goes to show that every vote has the potential to make a difference," she said.
Wolverton believed one vote does not make a difference in the big picture, but said the influence of one person can affect many, and through voting it can make a huge impact.
Junior Ryan LeClaire is registered in Spokane, Wash., but attended the Olympia caucus to support Wolverton.
"My major is music and I am very much interested in the issues our country faces, such as health care, rising deficit, and the war in Iraq," LeClaire said.
He supports Obama because he believes Obama is the most qualified candidate and is the most capable of uniting the country.
"I hope that some of the people I spoke with will really take into consideration the issues that our country faces and use their common sense when voting, rather than just hopping on the most attractive bandwagon," he said.
According to data from Karen Nelson, director of institutional research at UP, there are 764 students from Washington at the university.
