What really happened in the caucuses?

By Diane Silver

Did bands of unruly kids act as thugs for Obama in the Texas caucuses? Does Obama win caucuses in general because his supporters threaten defenseless, cowering Clintonites? That is the accusation included in comments on a post by my co-blogger Nancy Jane Moore.

Nancy has already responded once, noting that her experience in a caucus in Austin wasn't anything like that described by "K." She hasn't had a chance to respond yet to "JamesK." (The same person as K? There's no way to tell. Neither K nor JamesK posted a profile.)

I can only speak for my experience in Kansas. I went to a caucus in Lawrence that drew 2,200 people, far more than the handful of folks who usually attend. I live near the University of Kansas, and this caucus site was filled with college students. There were also many folks my age and older. (I'm 55.) I didn't see anyone intimidating anyone. We milled around for several hours, got tired, foot sore and hungry. We laughed and discussed politics, but no hoards of students were doing anything to Clinton supporters. I didn't even seen any individuals being impolite to anyone.

Hillary Clinton's supporters did seem miserable, though. There were barely enough of them to make up the 15 percent required for their candidate to be counted in the caucus. They sat quietly in one corner, looking rather stunned.

But this accusation of thuggery intrigued me, so I looked farther into what happened in Texas. I searched Google News, using the keywords Texas, caucus, police.

What I found were complaints about overwhelmed caucus sites and some concern about the large crowds getting out of hand. I found one incident where an Obama backer may have mishandled things and one or possibly two incidents where a Clinton backer mishandled things. For that last incident, involving former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw, even the local newspaper seemed to waffle over time about what happened and who was to blame.

So far, I haven't found any evidence of Obama's young supporters -- or any of his supporters -- engaging in wholesale intimidation.

Working backwards through time, this is what I found.

Dallas Morning News editorial
March 12

And if party leaders had any lingering uncertainty about the urgent need to simplify this process, the almost-too-strange-to-be-true Sandra Crenshaw saga should convince them to start rewriting their rules. The former Dallas City Council member ran a caucus that nearly turned violent and eventually ended in a standoff at a police substation after Ms. Crenshaw told Obama supporters that she planned to alter voting totals to bolster Mrs. Clinton.

Associated Press
March 11

In Hidalgo County, a border stronghold for Clinton, the count has been stymied because Democratic chairman Juan Maldonado changed his cell phone number after losing re-election and wasn't available for several days at his business, a bail-bond office that also offers state teacher certification.

Associated Press
March 6

Tempers flared among emotional supporters of Clinton and Obama. Birnberg said Houston police were dispatched to a half-dozen locations to keep matters under control.

"Someone walking into a room with a blue uniform on has a very calming effect," he said.

Dallas Morning News
March 6

Among the major complaints being investigated in Dallas County on Wednesday were reports that an Oak Cliff precinct chairwoman, former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw, was tailed to a Dallas police station by election volunteers. They say she said she was taking sign-in sheets home to "correct" them.

In another incident, an Obama backer from New York took over a caucus at Florence Middle School in southeast Dallas, and somehow lost all of the sign-in sheets dedicated to Mrs. Clinton.

"We're collecting information and we're forwarding it to the state" Democratic Party, Ms. Ewing said. "We're trying to weed out what's real from what's not."

Dallas Morning News
March 5

Election volunteers trailed former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw, who was serving as a precinct chairwoman, through Oak Cliff late Tuesday. They allege that she sent away hundreds of angry convention-goers and told them she was taking sign-in documents favoring Barack Obama home to "correct them."

Ms. Crenshaw, who supports Hillary Rodham Clinton, paints a different picture – of a mob of Obama supporters from other states who were so unruly that she had to seek refuge at a police substation.

Meanwhile, Salon posted an account of a caucus in San Antonio. Here are other reports from CBS News, The Washington Post, and the Austin American-Statesmen. The Washington Post and Austin American-Statesmen have the most in-depth review of problems in the Texas caucuses.

Vote early and often: Texans will use a combination of primary and caucuses on March 4

By Nancy Jane Moore

In this fascinating political year in which Democratic primaries and caucuses continue to count -- even if all the current talk about superdelegates harks back to the backroom deals of yore -- I've just made an interesting discovery: Here in Texas, we've got both a primary and caucuses on March 4.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that after the polls close, people can return to their precincts for caucuses, which will start the process of selecting about 30 percent of the Texas Democrats going to the national convention. (Something similar happens for Republicans.)

And you can both vote in the primary and participate in the caucus!

Here's how the Texas Democrats will choose their delegates, according to the Star-Telegram:

Texas will send 228 delegates to this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver. Of those delegates, 126 will be assigned to vote for candidates based on election results.

An additional 35 will be superdelegates, made up mostly of high-ranking officials, who may back whichever candidate they choose. This year's superdelegates include Fort Worth's Jim Wright, former U.S. House speaker; Fort Worth's Roy Laverne Brooks, vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party; and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, whose district stretches from Hood and Johnson counties south to Grimes County.

The remaining 67 delegates will be chosen through the caucus system -- with 42 being rank-and-file Democrats and 25 being party leaders and elected officials, according to a Lone Star Project report.

Seems to me that anyone with strong feelings about either Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton needs to make a point of going to their precinct caucus. Those 67 delegates could make an impact.

Since I just moved from Washington, D.C., to Austin, Texas, I'm paying close attention to the voting rules. I have my priorities straight: I haven't got my Texas driver's license yet, but I managed to register to vote in time for the March 4 election.

Of course, the move means that I miss the "Potomac Primary" coming up next Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., but I expect the nomination will still be up for grabs on March 4.

And in Texas, I get to legally vote twice!

Kansas: The thrill of caucusing

By Diane Silver

What a rush. More than 2,200 people turned out at my caucus site at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. We had to park in mud with our tires sinking into a deepening quagmire and stand in lines for an hour or more, but we did it, laughing all the time.

The supporters of my candidate, Barack Obama, far overwhelmed the 385 folks sitting forlorn in a corner for Hillary Clinton. Maybe it was because my candidate came out a head, but for me who won wasn't as important as the sheer energy and joy I felt in that room.

I heard more than one person say it: What counts is that we take back this country. What counts is that we turn our collective backs on George W. Bush and company.

We stood in dirt. (They normally show livestock in this cavernous building.) We milled about, chatted, kicked the sole soda pop machine when it ran out of cans. The machine emptied almost instantly.

I talked to a woman in her 40s who had forgotten to eat dinner before coming and said she was starving. That didn't matter, she said, it was better to be at the caucus. That was at about 8 p.m. I talked to a couple in their 60s who were thrilled by how the crowd was a mixture of black, white and Hispanic.

I saw a woman who had to be at least 85. She was hunched, with a scarf pulled on her head and bundled in a thick winter coat. She sat on a chair with a walker standing in front of her. And yes, this being the home of the University of Kansas, I saw many college students.

The place boiled with energy. I'm amazed we didn't blow the roof off.

Here are other accounts of the Kansas Democratic caucuses.

blueinks at Daily Kos talks about caucusing in the sleet and without power in El Dorado.

Pam Pholy at Everyday Citizen writes "They braved a blizzard" and provides great photos of the Ellis County caucus.

Ally Klimkoski at Everyday Citizen talks about how the caucuses in one Lawrence location overflowed. (That's the one my son attended. Yay Tony!)

The Lawrence Journal-World provides an overview with details on overflowing caucus sites in Johnson County.

PHOTO: Check out the full photo at the Journal-World site and play "Where's Diane?"