A caucusing I went

Last night I participated in my first caucus. There is (and was) a lot of hub-bub about it across the nation, so who knows if Iowa will be the first in the nation next time around. For me, it was a great experience. My neighborhood is a mix of young and old, and is fairly blue. We had 444 people at our precinct, up from 276 in the last election cycle, and somewhere between 50 and 100 people were first time voters. We also had some surprise observers-Senator Tom Harkin and Senator Durbin from Illinois.

I went uncommitted (meaning I didn't commit my vote to any of the candidates beforehand or at the caucus). Hearing my neighbors talk about their candidates was a refreshing change from the barrage of tv ads and political commentaries. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, but then again I was pretty sure which candidate I was going to end up with. If I didn't have a clue, I probably would have been more overwhelmed. Its going to be an exciting year and this is the last time I'll touch on anything political. Except to say, it feels good to have a voice and I'm thankful that Iowans are heard first.