Comments on Caucusing Each Other Out

That's so... anti-feminist.

Hillary has always been the right choice. Only sheeple will caucus for Obama.

Given the circumstances, I think you're doing the right thing.

That's really selfish of him. Total bullshit.

I'm sure DJ will understand that while you can snowboard 3+ months a year, every year, that you can only caucus for president once every four fucking years.

Go Dan, it'll be painfully disturbing if you don't go.

I agree with 3, I think you made the right choice. But, doesn't how many people show up at a caucus site affect the proportion of delegates they receive? Not that two people would make a huge difference.

Then, are you gonna vote as a Republican absentee?

if it's at stevens it might get canceled. they've been closed two days straight, and they're going to be under limited operations tomorrow due to the 60+ inches of snow and 100+ winds they've had.

Why do gays want to get married again???

Oh Dan,
I'm so sorry (about Terry chosing Clinton, that is)! After all the scandals that occured during the Clinton admistration (travelgate, chinagate, whitewater, the list goes on and on) why does he support her?

Personally, I don't think she'll unite both parties, she doesn’t have the experience she touts (being first lady doesn’t count), and she hasn’t displayed the type of character/judgement I can stand behind (as evidenced by her blatent misreprentation of Obama’s record as of late). Hillary and McCain on the ticket is a timetravel ticket back to the 1990s. I just don't get it.

This is a perfect example of why primaries are better than caucuses.... geez, we don't live in the 19th cent. anymore.

Since you two are cancelling each other out anyway, you're doing the right thing. I'm just glad (for once!) that I live in a primary state and not some fackata caucus state.

Every child needs a father and a father. Given the circumstance, an excellent decision.

I would argue that the benefit of going is actually the civic engagement and community/localized involvement that warms the hearts of individuals and makes them FEEL like they are impacting Democracy (because they are)

-however-

You already have a pulpit to do such. Your paper instructed countless people on who to choose, etc.

So not only did you cancel Terry out, you blew him out of the water in influence.

Have fun up there =]

I've got a word for these pedophile preditory preachers...how about calling them predicators?

I want to caucus but I have to work. I work for the City. I don't understand how the City cannot release workers to vote... I'm pissed.

Excellent decision. Heck, if our senators and representatives can do this (and they do, all the time), I see no reason why you shouldn't. And oh, BTW, nice to see that at least one of you has some sense.

The caucus deal IS bullshit, for sure. Employers wont let their workers off for it, because it takes a few hours rather than a quick in-and-out primary in a private booth.

I live in fear that my caucus will be filled with people like Terry. Not just pro-Clinton, necessarily, but so virulently pro-any candidate that they will be prone to long, ferocious, spittle-flecked harangues about why their candidate is the epitome of all that is good and holy. I don't need that shit. Unless it's for Mike Gravel, perhaps - that could be amusing.

Caucuses are ridiculous. Sort of fun in an anachronistic, isn't this an interesting display of democracy kind of way, but utterly unpractical. I'm with @11. Glad I live in a primary state.

Dan, how can you say you are "cancelling each other out"? Good lord--as if your caucus vote were anywhere near as powerful as the impact you have online and in print (and on Colbert, and etc., etc.). Be a sport for godsakes and take Deej snowboarding and let Terry exercise his franchise. And how about that Stranger cartoon showing the Clinton caucusers as old farts and the Obama caucusers as pretty young things? Is your secret fear that you and Terry will both appear to be caucusing age-inappropriately?

Probably a good call.

But remember this, next time mustache-growing season comes around.

Stevens is CLOSED SATURDAY!!!

GET YOUR ASS OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Is the underlying assumption here that Dan is making a bigger sacrifice by not caucusing than Terry is? I don't see it.

Along those lines, @21... Terry should say "you only get to caucus for Obama if I get to grow a mustache."

Dan can't take DJ anywhere, because has yet to be a grown-up with a driver's license. So, I guess disenfranchising his partner *and* giving up his own caucus vote is the best he can do.

I can certainly see being for Hillary or being for Barack, but I can't see being rabidly for either one - if being rabidly for someone also means being rabidly against the opponent - because they are both singing pretty much the same song in a different key. Well, there's more to it than that, but I guess I get defensive about Democrats being against Hillary or against Barack. I kinda love them both.

As a Democrat, how could anyone be rabidly against either candidate? Either one will be paradise compared to what we have now. These last eight years have made me very old. I can't wait to feel young again.

@26: Word.

@26: Thank you and Amen!

Go and take your son, he'll remember it forever and be proud that his fathers had a voice in his future!

..go to the caucus that is.. :)

And your son has learned that maintaining his luxurious lifestyle is more important than doing his civic duty.

Democracy is not easy and sacrificing a couple of hours out of your lives is something that we need to teach our children.

I am not trying to be a scrooge about your son's snowboarding (and I actually think sports and competition is great for kids) but considering how many young urban voters I know who say they care but have better and more interesting things to do tomorrow it is a little disheartening.

It is tough to disappoint your kid so if it is a competition maybe you could get him a ride with someone else.

I just look at how many people I know who do not value the democratic process and telling your kid snowboarding is more important than voting seems like a prett bad early message to be sending.

Sorry to be a downer :(

Well said, @26--I agree and will ultimately go all rabid in favor of either the bro or the ho. It's just that tomorrow, Terry would make the rest of us in the Hill group look good. Unless he's already done the mustache.

@26

I'm betting you'll have atleast 4 years of McCain first...

these little vignettes of life in the Savage/Miller household are just fascinating.

and, many gays ARE just rabid about Mother Clinton. I'm getting emails from fags I barely know, encouraging me to hit the caucus trail tomorrow to support "our" gal...frankly, I'm a little tired of all this rabid behaviour from BOTH sides, ("I'll vote for Hitler, before I vote for (fill in the blank of the Dem you hate")

If I remember my "To Kill a Mockingbird", isn't the cure for rabid behaviour, a shot gun blast to the head, delivered by Gregory Peck?

No ski bus? What is this world coming to?

way to betray the republic, dan.

I am perplexed about the gay guys who are ga-ga over Hilary. Are they too young to remember? Sure I had an inauguration party when Bill was elected for the first time, and they had significant support from the gay community. It was soon after taking office that Bill capitulated and 'thanked' us with 'don't ask, don't tell'.

I think the passes are closed Dan

you should bat him on the nose with a rolled up DOMA

Good way to teach your son about hypocrisy!

DOMA..ugh. What was a disgraceful day.

Yes, claiming that you'd just be "cancelling out" each other's "vote" is wrong on several levels.

Go to the caucus. Get the kid a new snowboard.

Good way to teach your son about hypocrisy!

My partner and I are both for Hillary and our neighbors are both for Obama. Maybe we can convince them not to go to the caucus so we can 'cancel each other out' and I can stay home and finish that tile job I have been wanting to get done.

Maybe we can all go find friends who are voting for the other candidate and cancel each other out by not participating and then go do other things.

And your son has learned that maintaining his luxurious lifestyle is more important than doing his civic duty.

Quoted for truth.

Dan, all three passes are closed, closed, closed. No excuses now for not going. You will be hazed forever.

Oh 31, fuck off.

But can I just say, Yay Terry! I do like Obama a very lot, and will be delighted to support him if he is the nominee, but I just like Hillary better. I like her very specific, detailed positions on most things, I like the fact that the people of NY are very happy with her, and I think she's very unlikely to make the kinds of "rookie" errors that Bill made, or that I think Obama would make.

It's true that we need a change, and I am confident that eventually we'll get it. But Obama isn't going to plop his toothbrush in the holder in the Presidential bathroom and rewrite how Washington works.

Clinton has an advantage in having been an outside insider (as First Lady) and an inside outsider (as Senator). I like her, I trust her, I believe her, I think she's very smart and more importantly, experienced and practical.

One more time, Yay Terry! I'm with you.

In other circumstances the term "pussy-whipped" might be used.

@44: I know, yeah--think how much a pair of superdelegates could accomplish that way come Convention time, too.

I'm so glad my boyfriend was rabid about Edwards. Now that Edwards is out, the boyfriend will stay home AND I'll caucus for Obama.

Dan - the thing is, a caucus isn't just about casting a vote. It is about talking to your neighbors and making a case for the candidate you support. Who is to say you couldn't have convinced more people to vote for Obama than he could for Clinton? By not participating, you persuasiveness is lost.

Yes - why bother? The caucuses will be so Obama-ized. This won't be Iowa in some neighbor's aroma-filled kitchen with coffee on the stove - this will be push/shove/where-do-I-go madness.

Thank you local Dem leaders for this arcane caucus idiocy. I'm currently on a crutch; if there is no parking at SAAM, I'll have to leave. How about a real primary next time instead of a potential so-called democracy-inspired riot?

Not to mention, I don't need a sermon, a lecture or an ad campaign from anyone who's not for my candidate. I already know how I'm going to vote. Can't I just do it quietly somewhere (voting booth) by myself (secret ballot).

I expect The Stranger to form a vanguard and abolish this archaic insanity.

Go skiing Dan without rue.

Normally I would so “Go snowboarding, and cancel out that way” but this is not the normal caucus. This is a historic moment in our nation. You have chance to go as a family and decide who the next president of this country is going to be. That person is going to be a black man or a white woman: either way a momentous piece of our history.

It is magic to be in a room with so many people who care as much as you about our collective future. If this snowboard event will change your son’s life more than participating in our history, by all means go. If not, get to that caucus and get rowdy!

And your son has learned that maintaining his luxurious lifestyle is more important than doing his civic duty.

Extra quoted for truth.

@50

In the Alaska caucus Edwards was still in the pool. If the caucus really gets rocking people who caucus for the "losing" candidates can trade their votes for promises of delegates.

Even if your candidate has withdrawn you can still have pull!

Cool. Any Clinton supporters on First Hill want to cancel out my Obama vote so we don't have to caucus?

"...but only if you go too?" Dan, it's a trap! He's planning to drive you up to the mountains, dump you off, and leave you stranded there while he drives back to caucus for Hils!!! Don't do it, Dan!!

@55: Oh stop. At this rate I'll need a 3-way to cancel me out of this thing.

You should listen to Terry, Dan.

:o)

The reason you are doing the right thing is that you're choosing to spend your time doing something important (spending time with your child) as opposed to doing something utterly and totally irrelevant to anything (engaging in any type of political activity.) Period. End of discussion.

Net result: Win for DJ! I think both candidates would approve, as do I. :D