Caucusing for Obama (again) in WA

Here we go again. Today, all over Washington state, delegates will gather in their Congressional District caucuses and caucus for their choice of candidate. As before, I expect that we Obama people will outnumber the Clinton people by a fair margin.

Today I'm also running for national delegate, one of 89 women in my district to run for the 2 female slots we have. I am handing out M&Ms packages with stickers on them that read "My Real Name for National Obama Delegate"; I spent several hours with labels and 300 packages of M&Ms the other night, sticking two labels on each package.

Do I think that anybody is going to switch candidates this time? It's always a possibility, and space will be given during the caucus for people to do so if they wish, but I am not holding out a lot of hope. These delegates are the most committed of the committed, for either camp, and will also be representing their candidates at the Washington state convention in Spokane. I will update this diary when I get home from the caucus, which is an hour's drive away in Shelton, and let you know if anyone switched sides.

We are taking another Obama delegate and a Clinton delegate down with us to Shelton. At the end of the primary, when we have a nominee, we are all Democrats together and will all be voting for the Democratic nominee. In the case of the Clinton delegate, I checked on this with her, because of so much talk (here and elsewhere) about Clinton supporters switching to McCain if their nominee doesn't make it.

I have pretty much made up my mind of whom to vote for as a national delegate. The guy who organized 25 precincts for Obama gets a vote. Quite possibly the gay guy from a small rural town gets the other male vote. I'm torn between my friends Arnette, Mary, and Carla for my other female vote, but will probably give it to Arnette, who has done a lot of organizing work for Obama, and my remaining vote goes to ME!

I have been endorsed by the following: * The Washington State Stonewall Democrats * State Senator Derek Kilmer (D-26) * State Representative Larry Seaquist (D-26) * State Representative Patricia Lantz (D-26) * Kitsap County Democrats' Chair Carl Olson * 26th LD Democrats' Chair Susan Cruver
All of that is on my campaign flyer, as is my tag line: I will be the only delegate in Denver who never has to leave the floor to go pee!

Wish me luck, Kossacks. I may actually stand a chance at this and will blog from the convention if I get elected.

Update, 6:25 pm: Just back from the caucus, where I did NOT win a coveted delegate slot. There were 90 women running for 2 slots. About half either weren't there at the time their names were called, or declined to run. I ran. Didn't make it. Now on to Spokane and our state convention, where I will run again, this time for a PLEO or At-Large spot.