I promised I would give a report to my precinct after attending the Legislative District Caucus. Well, Saturday, April 5, was the day of the caucus and it was quite the experience.

I showed up at West Seattle High School at about 8:30. Registration did not begin until 10, but they wanted people there an hour early to make this process easier. As I approached the school several people holding signs handed me pamphlets. I assumed the signs and pamphlets were to gain support for initiatives or statewide elections. But, no, the signs I saw and pamphlets I was handed were for precinct delegates, like myself, running to become county delegates. At this moment, I knew this experience was going to be a little more intense than I had envisioned.

When I made it inside the gymnasium I saw at least 15 people holdings signs saying things like, "Vote for me for delegate, I am an Obama Mama!" I stood there for a moment and tried to grasp what I was seeing. There were probably 200 people in the gymnasium at that point, and probably 100 of them were awe-struck like me, while the other 100 were trying to convince the awe-struck as to why they should be the delegate to the county and national convention. I was handed resumes, pictures and policy suggestions. I was told inspirational stories - one lady even told me about the excellent education she and Barack Obama received together in high school in Hawaii. It was apparent these people had put in weeks of work and money just for the chance at becoming a county delegate.

This circus of intense lobbying lasted until 10 when we were finally able to register. When I registered I had to confirm my vote for Barack Obama. Then, I was handed a large blue neck-tag identifying me as a delegate and 10 voting cards on which to write my name and print the name of my nominee to become a county delegate. These voting cards were as good as gold in that gymnasium where practically everyone was hoping to gain as many votes as possible.

After about an hour and a half we were called into the basketball gym. The bleachers were filled, every seat on the floor was filled, and there was a crowd standing. We stayed in this room for the next four hours while we waited to hear the results from the votes cast during registration. During this time speeches were made by Mayor Greg Nickels, State Representative Eileen Cody, State Senator Joe McDermott, Congressman Jim McDermott, and former state legislator Don Constantine, as well as a few others. After probably three and a half hours of speeches and announcements the results were finally tallied up, 75 percent of the 926 delegates from the 9th District (our district) signed in supporting Barack Obama with 25 percent going to Hillary Clinton. If I remember correctly, that means that 38 of the 51 delegates our legislative district sends to the county convention will be Obama delegates.

After the tallies were given, we heard two speeches, one from an Obama representative and one from a Clinton representative. During the middle of the Obama speech, a "Yes We Can!" chant began spreading throughout the gym. After about 10 seconds the entire gym was shaking because of how loud the chant was. The chant lasted for at least a minute or two. The energy of the people was amazing - the experience gave me the goose bumps.

After the chant died down, the hundreds of delegates and alternates still in the gym were separated into four different rooms where more intense lobbying for delegate voting cards continued. At this point though, the lobbying was much less substantive than before - I was asked several times if I wanted to go and if not then whether I could give my cards to them. After striking up a conversation with a passionate young lady who, unlike many of the other people I had met that day, wanted to continue on as a delegate because she had policies she wanted to pursue, rather than just be a part of the frenzy and prestige, I gave her my tickets and the other tickets that had been given to me. Then, I looked around once more, took in the moment and left.

Well, there is my brief summary of yesterday's events. The experience was pretty incredible - just the sheer number of people there and the energy behind the candidates was amazing. If you have any other questions please shoot me an e-mail, at Patrick_b_harris@hotmail.com.

Patrick Harris

(owner of the

white poodle, Maggie)