Caucus 2016

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Seven Carsons in my close family voted--my parents, grandparents, a couple siblings, and myself.  Between us, we voted for five candidates: Cruz, Trump, Carson, Huckabee, and Paul--quintupling our chances of selecting a winner.  I love my family!  We're united in voting our consciences and standing for what we believe in.
Many of us wish we individually could have voted for multiple candidates...but unfortunately we each had to pick only one.  For me that was tough.  I wasn't even sure for whom I'd vote the morning of February 1st!  Considering I started my research over 5 months ago, that was really terrible.  Last time around I decided on my pick the night before the Ames Straw Poll (in August)!


We had a concert and a (happily unexpected) order of concrete pads we needed to load, and then it was crunch time for me to try to finish that post I'd been working on (on and off) for days.  I finally decided whom to vote for about 10 minutes before it was time to leave, finished my post, "prettied up" in 5 minutes, and we headed to Wellsburg!  We were the first ones there other than the chairman, so we helped set up chairs.  
People started coming in gradually.  More and more people came (and we set out more and more chairs) until we had 107 voters plus several children.  Four years ago the Wellsburg caucus only had 86 voters.  

The chair and secretary were re-elected; then there was the Pledge of Allegiance.  An envelope was passed around for donations.  Next one person per candidate was given a chance to speak,  A veteran spoke for Bush.  An older lady spoke for Carson.  Then a middle-aged family man spoke for Cruz after leading in prayer.  One of my sisters spoke for Huckabee, mentioning his desire to lead the nation with moral clarity.  A friend spoke for Rand Paul.  

There were several minor candidates no one wanted to speak for, so a neighbor got up and gave a short general exhortation on how we should choose wisely and be glad we live in a Christian nation. The meeting could almost have been a church service!  My neighbors are good people.  Surprisingly no one spoke for Rubio or Trump.
 Ballots were marked and while they were counted, the plea for delegates to represent the precinct at the county meeting began.  Getting enough delegates was a real challenge.  Basically if *anyone* wants to serve the party in my precinct, they'll get unanimously voted into any position they want.  Everyone wants to just vote and go home.

Results for Wellsburg were Cruz 34, Rubio 25, Trump 23, Carson 8, Huckabee 6, Paul 4, Bush 3, Christie 2, and Fiorina 2.  Statewide, Cruz won with 27.6%.  Trump had 24.3%, Rubio 23.1%, Carson 9.3%, Paul 4.5%, Bush 2.8%, Fiorina and Kasich 1.9% each, Huckabee and Christie 1.8% each, Santorum 1%, and Gilmore 0%.  Clinton has been declared the Democratic caucus winner with 49.9%; Sanders has 49.6% and O'Malley 0.6%.  

Of course with results that close some people suspect Clinton "stole" the election.  On the Republican side, Carson called out the Cruz campaign for "dirty tricks:" Cruz supporters informed Carson voters in many precincts that Carson had withdrawn and they should support Cruz.  The Wellsburg caucus was quiet, no scandals.  We're neighbors.
Since the caucus, Martin O'Malley, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, & Rick Santorum have suspended their campaigns.

And now...our phones are strangely silent and our mailboxes are no longer filled with junk mail.  Life goes on. 

35 comments:

  1. Bethany your election is very interesting but different from ours

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    1. Our caucuses are different, but I'm sure our general elections are a little more similar to what you're probably used to.

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  2. Very interesting Bethany to hear about a caucus! I moved away from Kansas right before they started doing them so I've never been to one. I'm sad to hear about the scandals in other places but it's nice to know that you did not have any!

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    1. Ah, that's too bad you missed out on caucusing--but have fun in the primary! Yes, it's very unlikely you will *ever* hear about Wellsburg political scandals in the news! And I'm glad! :)

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  3. I always wondered how those things really worked. They did a sort of dramatic version of it on the Good Wife television show recently. But I wondered what a caucus truly was like. Thanks so much for sharing dear Gal! I found it fascinating. Glad you have good neighbors. ;) xoxo

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    1. From what I've heard some of the other precincts are quite a bit more dramatic than ours...and the Democrats have a totally different version of caucusing that is probably much more exciting. But I think the Republican caucus way is better...and I like our very awesome, calm, and friendly precinct!

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  4. What a busy period it's been for your state. Are you happy it's quieted down and things are back to normal?

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    1. It may take some adjusting. It was very fun, but I am glad it's over!

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  5. Rick Santorum just dropped out too

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    1. Oh wow, I was wondering why he hadn't earlier today. Thanks for the heads-up! I'll add him to my second-to-last line!

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  6. Interesting post, Bethany! I've never been involved politically so it's fun to read about your doings. Sad that our country doesn't want to elect a Godly president.

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    1. I hope the best candidate wins this time. Thank you for visiting!

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  7. That was interesting. Our primary is just a vote, not a caucus so I enjoyed hearing how it worked. Glad your precinct was peaceful!

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    1. Caucuses are probably less efficient than primaries, but I think they are more fun. It's nice to see everyone...and get an idea of which neighbors are good, loyal Republicans. :)

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  8. I hadn't heard about Rand Paul or Rick Santorum suspending yet but I kind of stayed away from news today. Here in Oregon, as you may recall, we are on a vote by mail system and it's pretty boring--although convenient. It would be fun to listen in on a caucus.
    Blessings, Aimee

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    1. Ah, that would be much less exciting! Thank you for stopping by Aimee, and God bless!

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  9. This is very interesting! I never really knew what a caucus was like; on the 1st I watched a short video explaining the Democrat caucus. It sounds a lot more awkward than a Republican caucus, what with standing in groups instead of secret ballot! :-S
    Thanks for sharing and keeping us all updated! :)

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    1. Ah, yes! The Democratic caucus sounds much more exciting. We thought it would have been neat if we could have gone over and watched a bit of it, but our own caucus kept us busy!

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  10. Hello Bethany Carlson. I am so glad to know you through your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am glad to stop by your blog post and know how your voting is done. I am from Mumbai, India and have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 36 yrs in this great city of contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the broken hearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai with your friends to work with us during your vacation time. I am sure you will have a life changing experience. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends. Also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centered New year.

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  11. In my personal opinion, I think you covered the voting, atmosphere, candidates MUCH better than the media. Which these days always seem so biased - shouldn't be. Your updates and reports show us there actually IS a populace that get down, and get serious, 'for the cause' of our country's needs and who is who. For what it's worth, your efforts and involvement went/and continue to go a long way.....

    The quiet now, tho it most likely will take some getting used to, will pick up again during the calender as more caucuses hold their 'voting' and the intense outcomes will make your long hours, hard work, worth everything to our people!! Well done Bethany.

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    1. Thanks Anni for your kind and encouraging words! It will be very interesting to watch the results from other states come in!

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  12. I heard all about the caucus on the news. I hope you are happy with the outcome.

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    1. Thanks Carlyn; neat that you'd hear about our caucus in your news. The candidate I voted for (Rand Paul) did not win, but I didn't expect him to, so I wasn't too disappointed. Still, I was surprised Cruz won.

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  13. You did a great job of covering your caucus!! We had a big turnout in ours too. I'm also glad they've moved on to NH!

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    1. Thanks Kathleen. It was fun while it lasted! Glad there was a good turnout at your caucus! It's great that more people were involved in the caucus this year.

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  14. You help me feel even more grateful to be a USA citizen, Bethany! I appreciate your report of your experience, and applaud your fairness!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Gracie! We do have a lot of benefits/blessings living here in the United States!

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  15. Amazing! The only way to make this post better would be to include a youtube clip of everyone's speeches. :)

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  16. Thanks for sharing! We have a while to go before the phone stops ringing and the mailbox is over-stuffed! Iowans are smart to get it out of the way early! LOL

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    1. You know, I hadn't thought of it that way! I'd only thought about the intensity of the race here, but you do have a good point, we "suffer" for a much shorter time! Thank you for helping me be even more thankful I'm an Iowan! :)

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  17. As we get closer to the general election period and some candidates no longer continue to run for the presidency, will you change candidates or will you vote for someone close to what your views are? Has the Iowa caucases changed anything for you seeing the results of all thoe candidates?

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    1. Now that Rand Paul has dropped out, I consider myself a candidate-less voter once again. Chances are I'll vote for whomever is the Republican nominee, unless it's one of the candidates whose views I really dislike...in which case I'll do a write-in or vote for some obscure party.

      The Iowa caucus has eliminated four candidates, so that should theoretically make it easier on voters in other states to make up their minds. But I'm glad I'm an Iowan, because I think if I had to decide for whom to vote in New Hampshire tomorrow, I'd have a very tough time.

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