Six months from today is the 4th of July, the 250th birthday of the United States.  By my count that’s 147 days; beyond that, by my count 269 days from now, is Election Day, 2026, November 3.  How does your “making a difference” calendar look like between now and then.  Set aside some time every day to our future as a country.  We, the people, are our destiny – each one of us.

*

I always attend my precinct caucus.  Last night there were 34 in our room, and they were engaged (not enraged, engaged).    I knew few of those attending.  They represented the diversity of our precinct. Two years ago, the same precinct meeting saw about a half dozen of us.  The weather on that caucus night was awful.

(In 2008, the Obama-Clinton year, in another school classroom, it was standing room only at our Precinct meeting.  (see POSTNOTE below).  People came to put either “Clinton” or “Obama” on a scrap of paper (they ran out of anything resembling a ballot really early), and once they voted, many  just left.)

Our state representative and state senator stopped by very briefly as did representatives for our congressperson and one candidate for federal office, and another for county office.  There just is no time for politicking  in such a setting.  But I think simply showing up is worthwhile.  Politics is very hard work for candidates.  Most important, the people in the room play an integral role in ultimately endorsing who the candidates will be.

There were about 10 well thought out and argued resolutions proposed and explained by several individuals who were well prepared.  Their proposals were generally supported by the group, and will go on to the next level, which will be the Senate District Convention Feb 28, then the Congressional District, thence Minnesota State DFL convention.  Committees of volunteers will sort and refine resolutions into groups, by topic (i.e. Labor), ultimately becoming the parties philosophical platform.  This process defines pretty well the DFL’s ‘big tent’ orientation – to respect everyone’s input in an exceedingly complex society.  It is impressive to watch it begin at the basic level, our precinct caucus.

At the end of the meeting I connected with one of the presenters who had submitted a resolution that particularly interested me.  Possibly, we will meet further about ways to approach the issue.

Yes, there’s LOTS of politics ahead, and that is good and it is intentional.  In Minnesota it begins with the precinct caucus.

We from Precinct 5, meeting in a classroom at Woodbury High School, were authorized 36 delegates and 36 alternates to the next level.  There were fewer of us in the room than those numbers, and I’m guessing most signed on for delegate status.  We’ll see how many show up on Feb. 28 for the Senate District Convention.  They and others from other places are the designated decision makers in the upcoming political process.

At the end of the caucus, one attendee related something that happened earlier in her day.  She had some kind of complaint about a product not received or such, and she had occasion to call customer service and her contact was a very helpful man with an accent – he turned out to be Nepalese, in a call center in that part of the world.  In a small departure from business, he asked the lady how she was doing, knowing she was from Minnesota.  The conversation was short, but he mentioned that everyone he knew, knew all about what has happened recently in Minnesota, and Minnesotans were on their minds.  The interchange made a deep impression on her, glad to know that someone elsewhere in the world knew and cared.

It was a great ending to a good night.

POSTNOTE:  Here’s my comment about 2008, recalled in my blog for February 7, 2012:

Four years ago, Feb. 5, 2008…well, here’s what I said, then:
“I’ve attended precinct caucuses for years. Our particular caucus location for the last several years has been a junior high school a 15 minute drive from me, just off I-94.
That’s 15 minutes on a normal day.
Tonight it took almost an hour to drive to the location, most of that time spent in the last half mile jammed bumper to bumper on the freeway and the exit ramp, and then another 15 minutes to walk to the school from my car which I had to park on the shoulder of the road.
The time spent had everything to do with the precinct caucus attendance, which was HUGE.
My caucus location was teeming with young people. The young guy who serves me coffee most mornings at my local Caribou was there, volunteering
for Al Franken. It is nice to make occasional unexpected connections like these….”