I especially know because most of my working life I've done shift work. And because of that I'm very aware of the bias against those who do not work a normal day job. I see it most clearly in the suggestions that Election Day be a national holiday, as if every person in the country would have that day off. Trust me, the Election Day sales would keep every single retail employee working at least 12 hours, if not more, on Election Day, as if no one works on the weekends or on other holidays. I've spent my entire working life working weekends and holidays, and I can get a bit resentful of those who work daylight with weekends off, as we used to put it. Oh, and holidays. When I was an airline employee we NEVER got holidays off (remember, you were flying somewhere and expected the planes to operate?). I worked 50 weeks a year. The other two weeks were my vacation. I NEVER got an extra day off for a holiday. Never. Think about it. Think about those three day weekends you get if you have a normal office job. I never got those.
But that's not the point.
The first time I came up against a caucus was in Colorado in 1988. The local caucus was down the street from us, and my husband went there while I stayed home with our two children, 4years and 6 months old. After a while he called me to say that we were welcome, I could come and bring the kids. So I participated. While in my opinion my kids were very well behaved, I knew that not everyone would agree with me. And so I was amazed and grateful that we could show up with the kids. Perhaps the fact that this was a Democratic Party caucus mattered?
After the caucus, my husband and I both became delegates to the local convention. Jefferson County, Colorado. The convention site had babysitters so we could bring the kids and they'd be taken care of. Wow. Exactly as it should be.
This is exactly what should happen, caucus, primary, whatever. People have young children. Babies. Real life makes it difficult to mind them or to take them along, which I remember very well.
I want to emphasize that what I like about the caucus process is the interaction between those there. Different opinions are presented and discussed. People get to consider differing points of view. Maybe there should be a caucus system that takes place over 24 or more hours, so that those with different work/life schedules can participate in that discussion.
In a primary, you simply go to the polling place and vote for your candidate. Nice, but no interaction or discussion with those supporting another candidate. If you've never had the chance to participate in a caucus, you can't understand that difference. You and I and all who read this post are very used to and comfortable with going to a polling place and voting for our preferred candidate. I cherish those caucuses where we got to present our views on our preferred candidates, and explain why we (and by we I mean anyone who was there) thought one candidate was a better choice than another. That was retail politics at its best.
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