Sanders Caucus Eyewitness Report: Guest Post

Guest Report from a Sanders Precinct Caucus Participant

Peter Sage Introduction.    I learned that John Coster was a Sanders precinct delegate who was then chosen by his local fellow-Democrats to be a delegate at at a higher level: the Legislative District.   I asked him to submit his observations and perspective on what happened.   It was slow, which should be no surprise: it is a one-off event, run by volunteers, with high stakes, and it is subject to mischief from interlopers and saboteurs therefore requiring time to review eligibility for participation.

Hillary Clinton has done better in states where citizens simply vote.   Bernie Sanders has done better where citizens must caucus.   Bernie Sanders has elicited a very high degree of civic engagement, especially among young people but also among boomers, like our Guest Post author, who are politically and ethically mindful.

John Coster is a technology executive and investor with a 40+ year career ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies.  He has worked in over 30 countries where he finds builds teams to manage very large and complex projects.  This gives him some perspective on how a complex undertaking--picking Sanders delegates--might be organized.

John Coster's Report:

John Coster

First, I’m not a political or social scientist; academic or politician; nor do I have any expertise in legal affairs or economics. My main qualification on this topic comes from having been elected student body president of Miss Weinstein’s sixth grade class in Chelmsford Massachusetts.  But I have had a life-long fascination with the history of people’s attempt to govern themselves; and I try to stay informed and engaged in our political processes. I believe context is important so thanks for bearing with me on my history. 

I cast my first vote in the 1976 presidential race between Ford and Carter.  Some may remember this was shortly after the end of Viet Nam, the Watergate scandal and long lines and high gas prices from the OPEC oil embargo. Unemployment where I lived at the time was nearly 11% and I was part of that statistic.  Ah the good old days.  

Since that time I have voted in every national, state, regional and local election, including primaries or caucuses; and referenda and initiatives – which it turns out we have a lot of here in Washington State. For many years I thought this was what everybody did. I was raised to believe that as Americans, it was our duty and privilege to participate our imperfect, but “better than any other” representative democratic process.  That belief was actually reinforced when I worked and lived in parts of the world where people do not have any political voice, and where there is real personal risk in asserting that they do. Of course I was personally immune to those realities because I could always flash my passport, jump on a plane, and return home where I was free to express pretty much whatever I wanted.

This election I decided to go a bit further, and put my hat in the ring to serve as a delegate at the local Democratic precinct caucus. This event drew far more people and was more chaotic than the one I attended in 2008. This time there were many first-timers. I was personally ambivalent but ended up being selected as the Sanders delegate at the Legislative District level. Here’s where I found it encouraging and disheartening. 

First the encouraging part. The local and regional committees were not prepared for such a big turn-out and it took several hours for over 1,200 delegates to just check in. The upside is that while waiting around, I got to speak to lots of people and observe their behavior. What I found was that people I spoke with seemed well- informed, thoughtful, articulate and the crowd seemed genuinely respectful and kind to each other – even when they disagreed. This is not something I expect to see among strangers at random public gatherings; especially when the disagreements can be so severe. There were rare exceptions of course but the uncommon civility seemed to dominate. I don’t think anyone can draw any legitimate conclusions about why this was so, but it was a unique experience that many others also noticed. I wouldn’t call it “euphoric” but it did leave me feeling somewhat hopeful in our collective humanity.  

Now the disheartening.  The entire caucus process was almost comically disorganized. It took over 8 hours for us to pick 7 delegates for the State Convention and vote on a party platform that most people didn’t seem to understand. Many of us felt the chaos had been orchestrated to exclude participation by simply wearing people down or frustrating them. Much has been written recently in the papers and on line to make us think this may actually be true. It certainly appears to be very common.  

A lot has also been written lately about the ebb and flow of the eligibility of voting rights throughout our nation’s history. Does simply having more citizen participation produce better elected leaders?  Apparently this was a point of contention between Adams, Hamilton and Franklin, so it isn’t new.   What struck me through this process, is that perhaps our form of representative government that is supposedly ‘of, by and for the people’ may be more of a myth than I had realized.  I am left wondering, given how we go about doing this, if it can ever be more than that, and if it can survive.