Slog - Comments on Caucus! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus It's your turn, Seattle: Should Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama be the next Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America? But first, a word from the OED: caucus [Arose in New England: origin obscure. Alleged to have been used in Boston U.S. before 1724; quotations go back to 1763. Already in 1774 Gordon (Hist. Amer. Rev.) could obtain no ‘satisfactory account of the origin of the name’. Mr. Pickering, in 1816, as a mere guess, thought it ‘not improbable that caucus might be a corruption of caulkers', the word “meetings” being understood’. For this, and the... Copyright 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:37:25 -0800 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:13:44 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Andy Niable Another interesting bit of caucus trivia (at least for Democrats):

Precinct has 3 delegates possible

4 people show up
2 for Hillary
2 for Obama

1 delegate goes to Hillary
1 delegate goes to Obama

What happens to the third delegate?

Believe it or not... the executive director of the Washington State Democrats, says to flip a coin on ties.

]]> Andy Niable http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932002 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932002 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:59:21 -0800 Comment by Wowza "Believe it or not... the executive director of the Washington State Democrats, says to flip a coin on ties."

And here comes another lenghty list of posts on how "important" it all is. Staggering.

]]> Wowza http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932007 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932007 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:06:02 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Not too many precincts are going to have only 4 people show up this time around.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932009 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932009 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:08:57 -0800 Comment by S. M. Venerable as the OED is, its etymology in this case is convoluted and unconvincing. Random House gives this:

Origin: 1755–65, Americanism; apparently first used in the name of the "Caucus Club" of colonial Boston [a pub where political meetings were held]; perhaps

Real etymologies are often polluted by folk etymologies, and I see taints of that in the OED in this case. Random House's research and analysis is a lot more convincing in this case (and simpler, a key red flag that it's a better etymology).

]]> S. M. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932011 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932011 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:10:45 -0800 Comment by Bub I'll be caucusin' for Senator Obama at the Greenwood Senior Center. This is exciting!

]]> Bub http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932013 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932013 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:15:29 -0800 Comment by Fnarf To be fair, Annie, the incorrect placings of Dan's caucus wouldn't be wrong if Dan actually lived where he said he did ("15th and Aloha").

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932019 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932019 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:33:45 -0800 Comment by elenchos Meanwhile in cartoon land, I have these questions.

Why does Gary Trudeau think young college students could name more than two Kennedys? Or that they would care to? Typical baby boomer egotism, thinking that Obama is popular with young people because they compare him to one of many Presidents whose time was before they were born. If anybody is going to be mooning over his wife's family, it needs to be one of his 50-something characters. Sorry if it makes him feel old.

And what's up with Ted Rall? Is he campaigning for Nader again?

And Fnarf's right: 43-2018 is Lowell. Go a few blocks away and you could be Stevens...

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932023 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932023 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:43:06 -0800 Comment by Andy Niable @3--yes, but what if 504 vote for hillar and 504 vote for obama. could happen. :)

]]> Andy Niable http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932061 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932061 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:33:12 -0800 Comment by question guy Hey... Do I have to go to my "official" caucus site? Or can I just go to the one that is down the street from where I live? This whole thing is still confusing to me.

]]> question guy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932068 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932068 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:41:12 -0800 Comment by annie @9: Go to your official caucus site. You probably live near a precinct boundary, so it's confusing. But you need to caucus with your actual precinct--unless you've moved recently and are registered elsewhere, in which case you can choose to caucus in your old neighborhood.

]]> annie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932074 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932074 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:58:13 -0800 Comment by question guy Thanks! The only reason I asked is because my official site is an elementary school down the street, but I looked and it says that Victrola coffee was a site as well.... so I figured I might as well go and get some coffee too, while I'm at it. but if I'm supposed to go where I'm told, I guess I'll go there.

]]> question guy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932082 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus#c932082 2008 Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:13:44 -0800