The Ohio Dem Caucuses Were Tonight

[eileen from OH]

For delegate selection. I'm from the 17th district, which (I think) is the largest one in OH. We're in northeast Ohio, and the district includes Youngstown, Kent (as in KSU) and part of Akron. We're south of Cleveland. It's part rust belt, part Bible belt, part latte-drinking, professorial belt.

This was my first caucus, but I was told the crowd was roughly three times the number that showed up at the last Presidential year caucus. I'm serious - HUMONGUOUS TURNOUT - probably about 700. I think the organizers were overwhelmed.

We had to declare as we came in, sign something and all gathered in the huge school gym to get instructions before being sent to different candidate rooms or remaining (the Dean people, of which I was one.) But I did check out to see what kind of numbers were showing up for certain candidates.

Dean contingent was largest - over 400 (I counted while waiting in the interminable line) and there were 31 delegate candidates for 8 slots.

Gephardt was next - I think about 100-125 (guestimate) mostly kinda-scary-looking Teamsters (though I love "scary" if it's "Dem scary"!)

Kucinich had (guestimate) about 75 - 100

Edwards 40-50

Clark and Kerry each had about 15-20

Didn't see any Lieberman, Sharpton, or Braun folks, but they may have been there.

eileen from OH, checking in

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Pretty weak show for DK...

...or is that just regional anti-Cleveland prejudice? Up here, Portland people won't pee on a Bangor-based politician even if he was on fire, or vice versa, until the general election.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. Good to see that Dean is beating Kucinich in Ohio

Just like he is going to beat Kerry in Massachusettes. I wonder who is going to win Vermont? ;)

[ShaneGR]

2. 87

# of Clark people, he ended up in third. I live in Akron.

[eileen from OH]

12. Were you at the 17th district caucus in Niles tonight?

I mean, a friend of mine went with the Clark group. He's the one that gave me the number which was about what I counted.

??????

eileen from OH

[tedoll78]

3. Over 400?

That's good, right? Is this typical turnout, or did it look like Dean had brought a ton of new voters into the process? I'm really interested in seeing if he does succeed at this, which is why Iowa will be probably THE pivotal moment in the campaign, IMHO. If he can get new voters to turnout in significant numbers, he'd be in good shape for a run against Bush..

Edit - okay, obviously not typical turnout, but were most of the new voters there for Dean? And how was the age distribution?

[slinkerwink]

4. It sounds like the turnout was HUGE for Dean!

I bet that about half of them were new caucus voters....

[eileen from OH]

17. I was told it was definitely NOT

the usual turnout - much bigger overall, and the Dean number was (evidently) extraordinary.

And I'm glad you mentioned demographics. Didn't check for this with all the others, but Dean's were all over the damn place. Pretty even distribution age/gender-wise. Lots of young folks, but they were not the majority. And most definitely diverse - many African-Americans.

eileen from OH

[AnAmerican]

5. I was the 10th district caucus

Kucinich, Dean and Clark all had plenty of support. No hard numbers though. The people staffing the Lieberman table were awfully lonely.

Overall I estimate the crowd at around 500. Good to see democracy in action.

[spooky3]

6. thanks, Ohio DUers

[Nazgul35]

7. This is good news for everyone....

and the repugs should be scared shitless!!!!!

I heard a while back one of the talking heads remark about the number of people showing up at all the Dem candidate's events....he said he'd never seen numbers like these, and he had been covering primaries since the Carter years....

If we can all just pull it together, we can stomp the Bushistas come November....!

[mmonk]

10. Its good the activists are out

but I prefer democracy over caucus. The US political system predated party politics. I want the rank and file to have the most voice. Still, good news.

[LizW2]

8. Interesting

Thanks for the reports. I think it's great that the turnout is big. That has to be a good thing.

[TexasSissy]

9. I don't get it. Is this a valid, binding caucus, like Iowa's?

If so, why isn't it in the news, like Iowa's is? I thought Iowa's was first, then NH. DC has something, but DC is not a state, so it is not an official event, and most of the candidates are not participating.

So where does Ohio fit into this picture?

[AnAmerican]

11. This was a caucus to select delegates

To the Dem. Convention. Each candidate had his or her supporters present to vote for delegates that favor that particular candidate.

The actual Ohio primary will be held in March.

[diamondsoul]

31. Whaaa??

I am so confused now! LOL

So Ohio has a caucus AND a Primary election? How in blue blazes do you reconcile the two??

What is the purpose of the Primary vote if the delegates are already selected?

[candy331]

13. Thanks for the report

Go Democrats! Go Dean!

[dsc]

14. I think our distrct is larger in area

and I know the one below you is (Strickland's). We have all of Ashtabula, Lake, Geagua counties and one line of townships in each of Portage, Trumbell, and Cuyahoga counties, and a few townships in Summit County. We had a light turnout for our caucus with Dean's 50 plus people the most. There were around 150 people total.

[Lisa0825]

15. TERRIFIC!!!!!

Having a much larger than normal turnout for the caucus means we can hope for a really good turnout for the election too! Lots of folks pride themselves on always voting, but never bothered with caucuses or primaries. This is a very good sign!!!!

[cindyw]

16. Weren't those just numbers for delegates. Not everyone wants to be a

delegate. It takes money. Dean has a lot of support by young single people. These people have more time to travel and do the job. Gephardt people can get involved because they have the backing of the union to help them in the process of being a delegate. Kucinich people just have the dedication in my opinion to spend what little they may have to get involved whether they have money or not. Not that it's an excuse, but people like me who have a family cannot take as much time or money away from family for the delegate election process.

I read your post and assumed that you were suggesting the numbers were representative of support for the candidates, but that was a delegate selection wasn't it. If there were 500 Edwards supporters in town, they may not be able to get involved, but I'm guessing that all 500 Dean supporters would. I don't think this translates to a win. Just enthusiasm.

[eileen from OH]

19. I'm not exactly sure if I understand what you are asking. . .

This was to select delegates, yes. There were 31 people who filed to be Dean delegates. The other people were either supporters of certain delegates for Dean or a Dem who came to the caucus as a generic Dean supporter. There was only one contingent (I'm guessing about 75) who seemed to be there primarily for the first reason - to support a delegate, or rather a family of delegates.

This was the pissy part about the whole thing and why I know what people mean about caucuses. The delegates were from all over, some union, some active in the party, some young, some new, etc. The mayor of a nearby town bussed in people - I was told city workers - just to vote for his wife and his son as delegates and himself as an alternate. They won of course because he's a "name" and because of his captive voters (you'd have enjoyed my jumping up and down yelling "What an upset!!) Thing is, this guy is an arrogant sumuvabitch who likes to get his pic in the paper and thinks he's some kind of power broker. And his damn kid goes to Harvard, fer Pete's sake - and will no more work for Dean than my old mama who doesn't leave her apartment. In fact, none of the family will. The rest of the vote got split up all over the place, (the unions did not co-ordinate their efforts. Too many of 'em running, rather than getting behind one or two.)

It dampened my enthusiasm for the whole caucus thing, lemme tell you. I see why people criticize 'em. But seeing the numbers that turned out, I'd say the vast majority were there, like I was, to show support for Dean, rather than to elect particular people. If that's what you're asking.

BTW, I went to vote for some of the folks from my Meetup, including the union guys who've been attending.

Oh, and it was great seeing my Congressman, Tim Ryan, there. He's a great guy and one of the first to endorse the Gov.

It was a very interesting evening.

eileen from OH

[hellhathnofury]

23. And momentum is irrelevant how?

[cindyw]

26. What does momentum have to do with electing delegates.

All I am saying is that having that many people show up for a delegate selection shows that supporters are eager, but is not an indication of how an actual caucus would turn out.

I think enthusiasm is great, but I don't like the idea of trying to suggest that Dean won a caucus when it wasn't a caucus. Attendance to that event is not indicative of local support.

[eileen from OH]

28. I don't think I ever suggested that he "won" a caucus

and. . .er it was a caucus - that's what it was called. It ain't like Iowa's, but it's a caucus nonetheless. If 800 people (newspaper put it at that) drive as much as an hour away (it was that far for us) and hang out for 3+ hourse, most of which was tres boring, I'd say that's 800 pretty dedicated people. And at least half that number were there to support Dean. Um, how else, besides a vote, would you determine the level of support? Or, at the very least, the organization of various candidates to get people to do this. Especially, people like me who've never attended anything like this before.

I'm still not quite sure what you are trying to say.

eileen from OH

[Hoppin_Mad]

18. Is Clark running in Ohio - or is this another of his no-show states ? -eom

[eileen from OH]

21. I don't know

and I don't think, if that was a dig, that Clark deserves it.

Because, frankly, outside of Kucinich (who has to come here, hah!) NONE of the candidates has visited Ohio, including my guy Dean. (With the exception of some small fund raisers.)

Can't speak for the other candidates. Our primary isn't until March, but outside of getting direction, encouragement, and some long-distance support from Vermont for Meetups and other events, we've done it all ourselves.

eileen from OH

[Lady President]

22. Clark is running in Ohio

All the candidates, except Moseley-Braun, turned in the 1000+ sigs required and will be on Ohio's ballot. Ohio is going to be so much fun this year! :)

[Lady President]

24. Ohio 12th district checking-in

I'm so excited to hear how large the Dem. turnout was tonight!

The turnout was probably around 200 in the 12th district which isn't bad considering it is largely Republican. Dean had the largest group, followed by Clark and Gephardt. The caucus was held at the AFSCME union hall and mainly their union members for Dean were present.

The best part was hearing the crowd go crazy when the statement from Dennis White, the Ohio Dem. Party Chair, was read. There are so many enthusiastic Dems. in Ohio right now!

Now I have to work hard and keep my fingers crossed for Kerry, so I can go to Boston. :)

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. Great to hear that Dean had the largest turn out

And good luck in becoming a delegate!:party:

[dajabr]

25. Eileen - here's a local article (800 Democrats)!!!!!!

Area Dems support Dean

By STEPHEN ORAVECZ Tribune Chronicle


NILES - Howard Dean was the favorite candidate of the 800 Democrats who turned out Monday night at Niles Middle School to select delegates to the presidential nominating convention, but it was clear from the opening remarks that the person they all wanted to defeat was President Bush.

Democratic leaders were nothing short of enthusiastic about the turnout, which was three to four times larger than the caucus four years ago, according to Greg Hicks, the Warren law director who organized Monday's event. He and others frequently noted the large number of young people attending.
''We encouraged them to come, and they did,'' Hicks said.

The turnout ''means I don't think people are happy with the president we've got. They're enthused to make a change,'' said Christ Michelakis, chairman of the Trumbull County Democratic Party.

More: http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/news/story/0113202004_new01dean13.asp

[eileen from OH]

27. Kewl! Thanks so much, dajabr!

I underestimated the crowd, even!

eileen from OH

[leyton]

30. Good to see Edwards in fourth place

he seems to have made a better showing than his main current competitors, Clark & Kerry.