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• Saturday, January 19, 2008 03:14 PM

  Where were the "voters"?

  I was one of the Democrats who caucused in our Nevada precinct. In a oollege cafeteria with four precincts in caucus, ours was the smallest, composed of four men and three women. The end result (majority takes all) was a delegate for Edwards. The vote was actually 3 Edwards, 3 Clinton and 1 Obama. The swing vote came over to Edwards immediately saying he, Edwards, was the closest to Obama's thinking on issues he thought were most important (primarily corporate greed, NAFTA, economics, health care). There was no "lobbying" and the Clinton faction simply got up and left when the secondary vote showed they had "lost."

  Meanwhile, other caucuses were in heated discussion with Obama and Clinton supporters literally shouting at each other. To the casual observer, this whole day was a two-person contest here; yard signs for Clinton (Solutions for America) and Obama (Change!) were all that were seen anywhere. Not ONE for Edwards or any of the others on the ballot.

  Did the up-and-leave response of the three Clinton supporters at our little (OK, tiny) caucus indicate a trend? Will they be the stay-at-home types we worry about if Clinton doesn't get the nomination? Bad enough with 75-80 Democrats registered in the precinct, only seven came out (unknown, of course, is how many, if any, were at the "open" caucuses at the casinos). Where is that driving spirit the Democrats will need come November? With the heated Obama-Clinton contest, low turnout on a sunny, albeit cool, day is scary.

  Liberal@MediaElite.com

  —TomByrd Read TomByrd's other letters
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