My partner and I were raised in very strict and devout Christian homes. I, a Mormon and him, a Church of God (Holiness). We often use biblical metaphors when discussing issues with our friends and customers because we recognize that America is a very religious nation.
As gay men who have been together for a long time, we knew there was no place for us in "The Church", so we have built a life on the edge in a predominantly Republican neighborhood in an upscale area. We are fondly referred to as "The Boys" amongst the neighborhood magpies.
We carpooled to our caucuses with our neighbors. Mary confessed she was a Hillary supporter and she wanted to go to the county convention as a delegate for Hillary. Jane said she wanted to go as a delegate for Obama.
I thought, OMG ...this is going to be interesting.
We arrived a half hour early to the middle school and traffic was jammed.
We parked 10 blocks away from the school and WOW! The place was packed and electric with excitement.
The lines were 6 deep stretching out into the cold night air.
Since I already knew our precinct number, we went straight to the cafeteria.
43 people showed up to our caucus. That was a world record. Since no one knew what to do, Mary nominated me for chair. (I've been precinct Captain before) I told everyone that I never knew that there were so many Democrats in my neighborhood and me and my partner were happy that so many people had decided to come out of the closet tonight!
After a good round of laughter and a wild cheer of applause for dedicated Democrats, the excitement of the evening was contagious throughout the 30 precincts packed into the cafeteria alone.
We ran out of registration forms. It was hot. We were stacked like Sardines, so I brought the Caucus to order so we could get the hell out of there.
First, Mary nominated and unanamously elected me as precinct committee man.
We elected 2 secretaries, a precinct committeewoman, election judges and passed a resolution to turn out the precinct for Democrats.
We voted a straw poll 34 for Obama and 9 for Clinton. We were allotted 4 delegates to the county convention and people began to sign up . I had the Hillary people caucus together and Mary was elected a delegate. She was estatic! We Obama supporters got to choose 3 delegates. I knew I could muscle my way in as a delegate, but I saw the young people and my friend Jane wanted to participate so bad, that I withdrew my nomination in the interest of inclusiveness.
My heart was thrilled when she and 2 other neighbors were selected as Obama delegates. We sent 4 women as delegates to the convention! We were the only precinct to elect a committee woman....and then there was me. :>)
It was a glorious night. Cold, clear Colorado caucus night in Tom Tancredo's solid red district voting for Obama and Hillary in a exemplary way of how democracy works.
No ugly fights. No disparaging remarks about other candidates.
At the end, we voted 43 to 0 for Mark Udall for Senate and we were outa there.
So remember Kossacks. It's about issues, unity, cooperation, GOTV, dignity and action.
Be cool.
And remember that that we are bringing in the sheaves of a great Democratic victory.
The harvest is ready.