A Roomful of Rookies in Farmington
There are two middle schools in Farmington, MN and the newspaper had obviously been mistaken. The parking lot at the East building was jammed; a flagger was waving cars to the back bus lot. The slow line of basketball families stopped to let two grandparents cross to the school. A young man in a baggy jacket and knit cap jogged toward them with an armload of campaign signs, and as I turned into the lot I saw about a dozen signs with "Hillary" or "Obama" planted in the snowbanks. Was the DFL Caucus sharing space with evening school activities or was this truly an outpouring of citizen involvement in a town with a very different reputation?
No, it is a movement coming from the roots up.
The context for this observation comes from 18 years living in an adjacent township. We purchased the farm in 1990 when I was serving as acting chief of staff in the House GOP Caucus working for my longtime friend Rep. Bill Schreiber, the minority leader. It was an introduction to Rep. Dennis Ozment, a moderate republican, who asked me to chair his campaign through the 1990's. One would think there was political involvement with that job, but Dennis ran unopposed three times because the democrats couldn't muster a candidate. In 1993 when nobody would file for the school board, I was approached on the last day by the superintendent and board chair. Of 8,000 registered voters, 73 voted in that election. I can think of specific flash points when citizen interest spiked, but it wasn't sustainable over the long term.
Two outgoing women in Obama t-shirts met me at the door with stickers and brochures, offering an unlimited supply. A line, two and three deep, snaked from the cafeteria to my left all the way down the carpeted hallway to my right. Hillary signs were taped at eye level. An acquaintance in line yelled, "Isn't this great? This is only Farmington -- the townships can go right in!"
Four dazed registrars at two tables were carefully adding names to master lists with pre-printed names and bar codes at the top. There was no verification process, but it was much more accountable than my memory of the past. I was given a ballot with specific instructions and went to join six people at Empire Township table. One young man was just 18, excited to attend his first caucus with his grandfather, who taught him a love of politics. His friend, a young marine on leave from Iraq, couldn't officially caucus because he lives elsewhere. The others were first-time caucus attenders as well. And then there was me, no longer able to overlook the platform of the GOP on issues I care deeply about.
There never was an occasion for a plenary session of any kind. The stream of people stayed steady until 8:10 p.m. Quite a few just voted and left under the new preferential voting system. In all, 446 people voted with 271 to Obama and 175 to Clinton. About 150 stayed for the precinct meetings and to elect officers and delegates. The dazed convener thanked everyone profusely for staying. There were no official remarks for any candidate or the party or platform. Once there was an interruption to explain preferential voting and to draw attention to print resources on the table: the party platform; Al Franken information; and, a Castle Rock township officer's letter announcing her run for the House of Representatives. In Empire, the young man stepped into leadership and two women agreed to serve as vice chairs. None of them were experienced.
It was a "shadow" night (Terry, 2001, p. 14). Commentator Carl Bernstein referred to Obama as a "movement." Terry writes that "changes often are acknowledged first in the organizational shadow, with its acute awareness of chaos, complexity, polarities, paradoxes, spirituality, and authenticity. Stirrings, new thoughts and beliefs, positive and negative, arise the from shadow. Leadership listens to these stirrings; the stirrings provoke the movement from zone to zone" (pp. 14-15).
As of midnight, Clinton has won California and some other key states, but Obama has more states in his column. The two of them have captivated the imaginations of citizens. In Florida, more democrats participated in caucuses than all the republicans in the last general electionm, according to CNN's statistics.
The DFL literature has a consistent change theme with many ways to participate. It is a night of participation and inquiry. Obama just won Missouri, too, with its 88 delegates to be divided proportionately. The two candidates were separated by about 8,000 votes in a total of over 800,000 votes cast. Clinton owns virtually all of the counties, but not the college towns and big, diverse cities like St. Louis City where Obama won popular votes by 71 percent.
The conversation in our township was about "anybody but Bush." That seems to be the mood of the entire nation. Evidently democratic voters are resolved (at 71 percent) that either Clinton or Obama would be an improvement." At the tables around us people felt the same. There wasn't much said, but the marine at our table got many comments of sympathy for our failed foreign policy. People described that the world feels too chaotic, and fret that America has lost its identity.
I believe the denominator of concern is a desire for zone leadership from these candidates, probably Level 3: Affirming Shared Identity. America has a system, it just needs a "lively system." The campaigns are working to build ownership and focus on the future, but the whispers of the stirrings are less specific tonight. It's about change, and it's about getting home before it gets too late.