Changed Dem caucus

I am frustrated with the Washington Democratic Party. In 2008, as a relatively new resident of Washington, I was so excited to participate in the Democratic caucus. I encouraged anyone who would listen to attend what I thought was a really democratic process.

What a farce. I left at the end of the meeting really angry. The very small number of people who attended from my precinct joined with several other precincts and spent the whole time discussing the process, choosing delegates to go to the next level and virtually no time hearing from anyone about the virtues of the candidates they supported.

We were asked to vote once when we arrived and again before being released without hearing one word from anyone about the candidates. Why, I asked, would anyone want to change their vote?

The Republicans have taken a better approach. They use their caucus to decide who will go to the next level as delegates and use the primary to determine which candidate(s) will receive the delegate votes for the convention. It is much more democratic to choose a candidate from the majority of the eligible voters casting ballots in the primary than from the minority of voters attending caucuses.

Charlotte Smith

Spokane