Live from the Iowa Caucuses

My husband and I walked up to our caucus place--City High School--around 6:30, and people were streaming up the street in droves; the turnout in our neighborhood seems to be phenomenal! Right now, we're in the high school cafeteria, crowded in with approximately 600 other people. We all stood in lines to get in the cafeteria, and then we stood in line to sign in for the caucus. After that, we each were handed a number and directed to different corners of the room. Each candidate has his or her own designated space in this large, gray room.

Thus far, the conversations are congenial; friends and neighbors are greeting each other and sharing stories and jokes. Children are playing on the floor and laughing. There are tables crowded with people--and heaping with snacks that will fortify us through the long night. Many of us are seated on the floor and standing at the edges of the room. Right now, the Edwards contingent looks like it's going strong, but it's hard to get a sense for how things will shake out. I was just shocked by the news that my husband is going to stand with the Obama group! The traitor!

I think we are moments away from starting. More soon from "Live at the Iowa Caucus" . . .

The precinct captain just announced that the last time we were here to caucus, four years ago, there were 530 of us at this site; this year, there are 719 of us! (This means our viability number--the number of people we must have in our candidate group to be considered valid--is 108). Shortly, we will be on the go, officially moving to our designated candidate areas. Then, we will note groups that are not viable, and the people in those groups will be able to take 30 minutes to: 1. join a group that is viable; 2. form an uncommitted group; 3. leave the caucus; 4. or join with another group to become viable, if they can get together and decide on one.

We're currently dealing with local business; they're doing audience nominations for a permanent party chair and secretary, and they also just passed around envelopes to raise money for the Democratic party. The county envelope was large, and the state one was much smaller, which elicited big laughs from the crowd. The atmosphere is still lively and friendly, with lots of audience shout-outs. Thus far, the Obama cheers certainly have seemed the loudest and strongest, though we in the Edwards contingent just gave it our all.

Now, we must choose a leader in each group to report our numbers. We are going to take until 8:00 to get organized.

Numbers update: I'm friends with one of the official counters. He just told me that, thus far, Edwards has 130 people in his group, and Obama has 330. I'm disappointed that Obama is so far ahead, but at this point, the Hillary supporters don't have enough people (108) to be viable. That's encouraging news. We'll see how the evening progresses.

Neighborly conversations are swirling around us, as we wait for official viability counts. Some people already are asleep on the floor--but not the babies or small children! Little girls with "observer" stickers are walking around in white "Edwards" shirts, and people are taking their pictures.

The chair is calling for final counts from the Hillary group again; it seems they aren't going to be viable. The chair has just declared the end of the first round, and they are arbitrarily choosing one group and counting the pieces of paper (each person's receives one paper stub to turn in), "just to keep us transparent." They've drawn the Obama group, which was met with moans from our crowd.

The first selection is over, and these are the results for our precinct: Obama--333, Edwards--130, Clinton--105, Biden--53, Richardson--43, Kucinich--26, Dodd--19. That means Edwards and Obama are the only viable groups here. Yay!

At this point, the people in these other groups can choose which viable candidates they'd like to join--or they can leave. Can you believe the Hillary group was just three votes short?! I'll let you know more at the end of this second alignment. An angry man in the back is shouting for the chair to turn off the cameras, because "he doesn't want this filmed." Another woman is demanding to know who he is and why he's so paranoid. The atmosphere definitely seems more charged now.

We in the Edwards group are now just three people short from gaining another delegate for our side. I've been walking around, working the room, and trying convince people to switch groups. My friends seem very entrenched. At this point, the Dodd and Richardson people have joined together. Loud cheers from our group: it seems we're adding people as I type this! Only a few more minutes until the next official count. The crowd is rowdy now!

The new numbers are coming in now: Obama has 384 votes; Edwards has 169 votes; Clinton has 120 votes. I think this is the final count. People are leaving. The Edwards precinct captain just told me that the "Obama phenomenon" is amazing. *sigh* I feel disheartened. Edwards and Clinton are so close in the CNN poll right now. I just hope Edwards still has a chance at the nomination.

People are filing out in droves now; the room has really cleared, though the caucus leaders still are doing some last-minute paperwork making the results official. Here are the delegates: Obama has seven delegates; Edward has three; and Clinton has two. The chair is calling Des Moines now to report our results.

I guess now it's on to New Hampshire. Let's keep on working for John! This Iowa blogger is signing off from the Iowa caucuses and heading home to her daughter. Good night, all.

Comments

[Erin (QueenofSpain)]

So interesting Leah! I'm just in awe at how this all works! Please come leave your live blog link over at BlogHer so we can spread the word of your night!

http://www.blogher.com/iowa-caucus-open-thread

[Stefania/CityMama]

Go Leah, go! I just posted your link over at BlogHer.org. Can't wait for your next updates! GO EDWARDS!! (Can you hear me yelling from there?)

[Emily]

WOW this amazing and VERY exciting! Thanks Leah! Thanks MOMocrats!

[Meg]

Wow! I followed a link here from Stefania's blog, and I'm glad I did. I also am rooting for Edwards, and while I'm disappointed that Obama took the lead tonight, I'm pleased with Edwards' performance.

Thanks so much for blogging this--us non-Iowans mostly just scratch our heads in confusion when it comes to your caucuses, but now I feel like I understand how it happens.

[LawyerMama]

I'm so glad you gave us this inside view, even if Obama did win tonight (and it looks like he really did.)

[Sarah Granger]

Has anyone seen Edwards's speech on any of the TV networks? I've only seen Huckabee, Obama and Clinton shown so far.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Sarah--his speech was on CNN just before Hillary's, and it was very stirring/moving.

[Beth B.]

Thanks so much Leah. I have to say, I went to the other news outlets and was confused. So I headed to Momocrats to read your post and found it to be the most informative post of the night! Thanks so much! I think second for John Edwards sends the message that he is electable. And more then electable, he is the "full package" when it comes to a presidential candidate.

[Scooteur]

Nice narrative, Leah! It sounds like your precinct was a little more organized than ours. For one thing, there wasn't room in our elementary school gymnasium to separate the groups. There was no way of telling where one group and ended and the next begun!

Anyway, my first caucus was eye-opening, and invigorating. Had I read your simple but clear account of the process beforehand, I might have felt less confused at the outset! In the end, Edwards was a distant second to Obama at our precinct as well, and Hil only eneded up with a single delegate out of 9. There's still so much campaigning left, though--last night was certainly not decisive for the general election.

[JAMom]

I followed your live blog last night and it almost felt like I was standing/sitting in the midst of it all. Thanks for the live feed.