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At 1 p.m. on February 9, as folks all over
the state were filling caucus centers to capacity,
46th district democrats convened at
the Bitter Lake Community Center.
Shortly after, Precinct 2224 set up camp in
a small side room, where 62 neighbors stood,
sat, and leaned against doorjambs. After the
initial candidate preferences were tallied, 39
were for Obama and 20 for Clinton with 3
people still undecided. The Precinct Caucus
Chair then invited everyone to share their
arguments for which candidate they supported,
and a lengthy debate began.
Many Obama supporters spoke about the
advantage of a candidate who is younger
and newer on the political scene. “I’ve seen
Obama fire up a whole generation that can’t
remember a president not named Bush or
Clinton,” said one man. “We need someone
new.”
Another agreed. “If we have this rock star
candidate drawing rock star crowds, maybe
things can happen,” he said.
A young father with family in Texas accused
the Bush administration of driving
a wedge in the country. “It’s unfair and
she doesn’t deserve it, but Clinton inspires
deep-seated hatred in a lot of the right. A
lot of conservatives say they can live with
Obama,” he said. “I don’t want to hate my
relatives.”
One woman from Arkansas added, “My
parents are republicans but they call themselves
‘Obama-republicans.’”
Clinton supporters argued that Clinton’s
political “baggage” may not hurt her as
president.
A woman who identified herself as a
Filipino immigrant challenged the notion that Clinton is too political.
“Everything is politics, Obama will
be political in office just like anyone
else would.” She said. “In the
Philippines we have had two woman
presidents. We are not afraid of
a woman president.”
One of many who prefaced his
statement by saying that he would
enthusiastically back either democratic
nominee in the November
election, recalled “idealistic” candidates
who had disappointed
him in the past. “I was around in
’76 when Carter was the breath of
fresh air and I was around in ’92
when (Bill) Clinton was the breath
of fresh air,” he said.
Another man agreed. “I tend to
fall towards Hillary when I want
to get things done,” he said. “I
remember Jimmy Carter too—I
loved Jimmy Carter—and that fell
flat.”
In the end, caucus participants
were given the opportunity to
change their nominee preference
and the final numbers were 39 for
Obama and 23 for Clinton, earning
them 5 delegates from the precinct
and 2, respectively.
The breakdown was similar all
over the state, with Obama winning
35 delegates to Clinton’s 14,
but the national race remains
close.
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