Washington caucuses: Neck and neck, door to door
Third in a series: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are just about even in the delegate count as Super Tuesday results continue to trickle in after record turnout. Last weekend, Obama's supporters hit the sidewalks in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, as optimistic as ever. This Saturday's caucuses in Washington will be key in the pitched battle between the two Democratic candidates.
Editor's note: This is third in a series about Washington's role in choosing the next president.
Chiara Zaratkiewicz and her 17-year-old son, Tony Sueiro, may not agree on most things these days, but they agree on this: Barack Obama should be the next U.S. president. The mother-and-son canvassing team hit the streets last weekend to talk to their neighbors about voting in the caucus on Feb. 9.
Canvassing together is something of a tradition in Zaratkiewicz's family. One of her earliest memories is of sitting in a stroller as her mother went door to door to talk to her neighbors. "When I was little, I thought she just liked visiting with people," says Zaratkiewicz. "Later, I realized she was canvassing." Zaratkiewicz says she started participating in phone banks when she was the age her son is now and has continued to participate as a volunteer in grassroots organizing efforts all her life. She credits her mother with making her realize it's good to care about what happens in the world instead of just looking out for oneself.
Sueiro supported Obama long before Zaratkiewicz came around. "He told me, 'Mom, the world is going to change, and Obama is the one who will make the change.'" Even though he's only 17 now, he's allowed to participate in the caucus because he'll be 18 before the general election. He will also earn service learning credit through Nova Alternative High School for his canvassing activity.
Zaratkiewicz initially supported Hillary Clinton, owing in no small part to Clinton's strong stance on health care. "I remember how people lobbied against her, especially the insurance companies," she says. "Under a lot of strain, she put up a good fight." She admired Clinton's intelligence and stamina but regretted the way Hillary let her own career in politics take a back seat to Bill's ambitions.
That may have been forgiven, but the turning point for Zaratkiewicz came with Clinton's stance on Iran. "She said she would be willing to walk into Iran on the assumption that they were building a nuclear arsenal," says Zaratkiewicz. To her, Clinton's response was no different than President Bush's. Clinton's reaction "made me think she was trying to impress the voters or other politicians, that she could stand up with the big boys, like she had to impress them because she's a woman. If she feels like she has to impress people like that, what would she do in office as president? What are her real convictions?"
By contrast, Obama speaks to a need for diplomacy in the world, she says. She sees Obama as the leader for our times, especially as one of the few people who spoke out against the war. "Obama talks about principles, and people don't necessarily talk about principles anymore," she says. In her opinion, platforms are easy; principles are harder. She admires Obama's efforts to bring people together, to bridge across divisive lines. "We're supposed to be working on compromises," she says. "That's what this country is all about."
Her conviction fuels her volunteer work despite pressing things to do at home, keeping up with her son's busy schedule, and working full-time herself. Knocking on stranger's doors isn't easy, especially on a cold, overcast Saturday, when most people don't seem to be home and the most fervent Obama supporters are probably across town, at an Obama rally. Zaratkiewicz knocked on one door, and when no one answered, she thought the occupants weren't home — until she heard someone turn the lock in the door. As she walked off the porch, she heard the sound of the mail being dragged out of its slot.
The people she did speak with were welcoming, and many professed to be Obama supporters. There was the Brewster family, who tumbled out the door and onto the porch to talk with her. They'd just moved into Ballard from neighboring Fremont and were happy to get the information about where, when, and how to caucus. Even the ones who wouldn't state a candidate preference or didn't want to support Obama were enjoyable, says Zaratkiewicz. "I always just like to talk to people; I take a long time at the door because I really like people; I like to get to know them."
Zaratkiewicz was armed with a canvass script, which she chose to ignore, preferring to chat with her neighbors about their preferences, using the opportunity to encourage them to participate in the caucus no matter who their candidate is. She insisted on canvassing her own precinct. "I like to tell them I'll see them at the caucus on Saturday," she says. "People don't like to go by themselves, so if I say I'll see them there, they realize at least one other person they know will be there."
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Comments:
Posted Thu, Feb 7, 6:54 p.m. inappropriate
It's not as though us Republicans have cooties or anything, so shouldn't some mention be made of us? Who knows? Washington went twice for Ronald Reagan, and it's not inconceivable that in 10-months, it could go for John McCain, now that he appears to be the GOP putative nominee.
We'll be holding our caucuses out of sight and out of mind, much to the chagrin of Dwight Pelz, the state Democratic Party, Crosscut.com, and, it appears, Lisa Albers. Don't mind us; we'll phone in our results.
The Piper
Posted Thu, Feb 7, 11:17 p.m. inappropriate
RE: Typically Seattle: Piper, setting aside for the moment our failure to mention the GOP, is there really anything important to be decided Saturday by Washington Republicans now that Romney is out of it? Is Huckabee a force to be reckoned with?
Posted Fri, Feb 8, 11:27 a.m. inappropriate
Mitt Romney didn't suspend his campaign until yesterday surprising even his own supporters since they went to bed thinking he'd stay in. But as he said, during the course of writing remarks to be delivered at CPAC he had an epiphony resulting in his decision to withdraw. Never having been a Romney fan, I was struck by how he put the national and party interest ahead of self-interest acknowledging that during time of war there's a need to focus on that and what's best for the country. Shades of Ronald Reagan in 1976? We'll see.
The war...remember that? With the effectiveness of the surge it's pretty much dropped off the radar screen and you don't hear much about it in the stump speechs of the Democratic candidates, but it's still out there. To me, it's the only issue that matters; if we lose this, nothing else matters since jihadists don't give a rip about global warming.
And it's the war that will be first on the minds of Republicans as they caucus in large numbers on Saturday. The King County GOP office is receiving an unprecedented number of calls on how and where to participate.
Our intra-family feuds deal with substantive policy issues, while Democrats this year focus on race, gender, and electibility. You can't stick a hair between the core positions of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama so they're left to bash each other on the peripheries of appearance.
During our caucuses, the more conservative among us will discuss and debate their reservations about John McCain. But in the end, given a choice between him warts and all and HRC or BHO, we'll rally around the flag and support him. And we'll be respectful and civil about it.
The three-legged stool analysis of the GOP is cliched but instructive. Values conservatives, economic conservatives, and national security conservatives haven't had anyone equally in all three camps since Ronaldus Magnus Reaganus. It's both our joy and heartbreak to compare all since him to him. There was only one Lincoln, too.
Mike Huckabee supporters will be pointedly reminded that he needs to capture over 80% of left-to-be-allocated delegates from here on out. My sense is that while they know this, they will march on all the way to the convention less to secure a nomination and more to remind everyone that their's is a voice to be reckoned with and votes without which a November victory isn't possible.
Values voters within the Washington GOP have a long and strong tradition of being well organized and gutting it out until the bitter end. Remember, Pat Robertson swept the 1988 Republican caucuses; being under that steamroller is something I remember well.
Washington Republicans have the opportunity this Saturday to distinguish themselves from Democrats who, if you check the local political blogs, are increasingly engaged in a nasty cat fight. John McCain's chief rival bows out gracefully for the good of the country, while Barak Obama warns Democrats that there's a lot of as yet undisclosed dirt on Hillary Clinton sitting in a Republican desk drawer. Hillary Clinton's people are now leaking allegations (check David Postman's Seattle Times blog) that Barak Obama is just another Chicago dirty pol, albeit with a smooth delivery.
If this keeps up - the way things keep breaking roughly 50-50, there's no reason to think they won't - Denver's Democratic National Convention this August could easily resemble Chicago in 1968. The ghosts of Richard J. Dailey and Abraham Ribicoff are still mad at each other!
Yeah, Republicans matter - what we say and what we do is worthy of note. There's more to Washignton politics than extrapolating Seattle's 43rd Legislative District as the be all and end all of the entire state.
The Piper