A couple of thoughts about last night’s caucus

1 comment January 14th, 2009

Most of the people I talked to and most of the people quoted in Mike Wiser’s story this morning prefer a primary over a caucus. The turnout last night was 133 people and if you subtract the candidates, their families and elected officials who came to show their support, you probably had 50-75 people. As one reader who posted a comment at the end of Mike’s story noted, that seems more like elitism than democracy.

One of the things I thought was unfair was that people could vote and leave before all the candidates had their three minutes at the podium. Adam Prymak was the last speaker and pointed out how township officials approved nice raises for themselves without much outcry from the media. His message of being a good steward with taxpayer dollars should have resonated with Republicans, but by the time he walked on stage, there were about 75 people left. He was not chosen to advance to the general election.

I do agree with John Sweeney, one of the precinct committeemen who voted to have a caucus, on at least one thing. The caucus did give folks a chance to talk to meet the candidates, which is better than reading about a candidate in a flier.

However, the same thing could have been accomplised with a cocktail party. I talked to a lot of elected officials past and present last night and it reminded me of being at the Register Star’s Excalibur Awards banquet — without the food or drink.

I want to thank Carl LaBella, a retired teacher, for being my guide last night. Carl introduced me to a lot of folks and kept me company most of the night.