I’m a bit late on this, but I’ll piggyback on Chris’s post about Obama and caucusing.

Here in Maine, the Democratic Caucus took place this last Sunday. Like Chris in Seattle, we expected a big turnout here. The conventional wisdom was that Hilary would run very strong here because she resonated more with the prodominantly white, blue collar Mainer. But Saturday’s Obama event in Bangor was proof that it wasn’t going to be a cake walk. 10,000 people turned out. The arena only held 7,000.

The caucus was supposed to start at 2pm at Portland High School, downtown. I joined a friend – maybe 75 people deep – in the caucus line at about 1:30, just as chunks of snow began to fall. Just surveying the scene, it was apparent that the Obama support was overwhelming. There was hardly an obvious Hilary supporter to be seen.

We waited and waited, soaked in snow and Obama signs while the doors remained closed. The line was rumored to be stretching 3-4 blocks or more to Monument Square. 4,000 people were descending on PHS! We finally entered the building around 3 only to begin an afternoon of filling things out and joining lines. Suffice it to say, it was utter chaos. No one really knew what was going on; where we were supposed to go; what time the caucus got underway. Most people remained upbeat about it, but the frustration of waiting 2 hours just to register as a Democrat – something I was hesitant to do anyway – was wearing on most people. We were sent to join more lines and then wait for speeches. The end result was handing off a piece of paper with our info, who we were voting for, and a signature, to one of the Dem. volunteers. It was about 5 and no caucusing had even begun yet. So we left, our patience thoroughly exhausted. But it would appear that our votes ended up in the right hands. Obama received 59% of the over 46,000 votes. The turnout in Maine eclipsed the previous record of 33,000 in 1980.

I still can’t say that I’ve been able to experience a caucus. But I will say that for all the sentimental feeling about it, it’s terribly inefficient. To have only one caucusing site in the entire city of Portland, already knowing that there has been record turnout in the preceding caucuses, is gross under preparation. It’s ridiculous how much more of a process it is than actually voting for a president.

All grousing aside… I wasn’t really that mad. It was very encouraging to see so many motivated people. It’s reassuring to see how important people feel this election – this nomination even – is.