Maybe it's because my husband is in the hospital, or maybe it's because I spent upwards of 60 hours as our party secretary working on getting our precinct caucuses together or maybe it's because I know something about community organizing...but I just don't have that lovin' feeling toward Barack Obama.
Maybe it's because his partisans tried to shout down the Hillary folks at several of our precinct caucuses...maybe it's because I have toiled in the vineyards of the Democratic Party for over two decades...and now the young and the energized expect me to genuflect at the feet of Barack...get out of the way, old lady, 'cause a change is gonna come...
Yes, I am bitter and disillusioned that the path I took working within the party is now seen by the Obama people as some sort of insider deal with the devil. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Yes, I'm the party secretary. Yes, I know the party rules. Yes, I could game the system, but I don't. Why? I have taken my responsibilities as a citizen and an activist very seriously for my entire adult life. That's why I volunteered for the party and that's why, after all these years, I'm the chair of my state house district central committee, that insider that everyone on this web site hates.
Well, here's what happened at our precinct caucuses: the Obama folks came and voted in the preference poll and ran for the exits. Very few stuck around to volunteer to do the heavy lifting of being precinct committee people or election judges or even delegates to the county assembly. And, certainly, nobody put money in the donation envelope for the county party, very few stuck around to talk about our county resolutions, nobody volunteered for local races. Sorry for whining, but who the hell is going to do the work here? If Obama wins the nomination, I will surely work as hard for him as I possibly can. I'm sorry to say that his partisans don't seem to reciprocate.