Cold yet caucusing, they feel the zeal
Half an hour before the Democratic caucus was to start, the cafeteria at Saddle Ranch Elementary was packed.
“There’s definitely something in the air. It’s exciting,” said Ed Cary, 44, a printer in this cookie-cutter suburb south of Denver.
His wife wore a Barack Obama sticker. But she looked just a bit forlorn.
“I fear I’m forgoing my chance to ever vote for a woman for president by doing this,” said Cindy Cary, 39. “I feel guilty.”
She had been vacillating for weeks, she said, between the Illinois senator and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. On Monday, she made up her mind -- not because of any deep policy analysis or stirring speech, but because one of her neighbors happened to make a cutting remark about Clinton.
“There are so many people in this country who hate her, she’d never win,” she said. “I would be happy with either one. But he’s more electable.”
That seemed to be a common sentiment Tuesday night. Sitting under student-made signs urging “Accountability,” “Courage” and “Responsibility,” voters said they were drawn to Obama because he had the charisma and vision to unite the country.
“I’m not anti-Hillary,” said James Felts, 38. “I just think she has more baggage.”
Parallel Republican caucuses held across the state were more straightforward: a simple vote, by secret ballot.
Democrats asked supporters of each candidate to give short speeches; some precincts held two straw polls, by shows of hands, to allow voters to change their minds. Few did.
Douglas County is heavily Republican by voter registration, but the Democrats have steadily gained ground in recent elections.
Despite several training sessions, the caucus organizers in Highlands Ranch were unprepared for the record turnout; voters filled the cafeteria and library and spilled out into the hall.
“I hope the Democratic National Convention goes better than the caucus in this precinct,” Brenda Nickells, 56, said as the organizer asked the people caucusing from her precinct to move to another table.
Despite the confusion, Nickells said it was worth it to come out on an icy night. A registered nurse -- she wore American-flag-print scrubs -- Nickells said she supported Clinton because of her healthcare plan.
Surveying the room, filled with first-time voters and a few excited children, she added: “My civic duty brings me here.”
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