The Idaho Democratic Caucus

I grew up in Portland, and my dad used to joke that Oregon liberals there were so tight-assed that there were permanent finger grooves in the steering wheels of their Volvo station wagons. Other adjectives he could have applied were "square," "ordnung," "straight-laced," "dour," and "prim." None of them are particularly positive adjectives.

For some reason, these Oregon-type liberals seemed to be the only ones in attendance at the Idaho Democratic caucus today at the Morrison Center. And since Boise is a pretty cool town, there were very few of them. I suppose it's the prim, ordnung ones who are procedure-oriented enough to actually vote to get the sitting President back on the ballot for the general election. 

I reported on the caucus for Boise Weekly with a motley crew of other reporters. Our job was to write stories on who was in attendance, and how attendees were keeping busy, since there was really only one candidate on the ballot. What surprised me––and what this blog post is about––is who wasn't there. 

Who wasn't there turned out to be practically everyone I know, even the most dyed-in-the-wool Democrats, from the dreadlocked guy who works at the Co-Op to the bartenders to the "Blue Women living in a Red State." The list of people who should have been at the Morrison Center is quite long, while the list of people who were actually there is quite short.

This isn't a new problem for Democrats. Voter turnout, in fact, is the Democrats' biggest problem. It's the fatal flaw that probably cost Al Gore the 2000 election, and is likely the secret weapon Mitt Romney is hiding under his coat for December, when he hopes to beat Obama in the general election.

I don't think Romney even has a fighting chance. For one thing, the cobwebs he's putting up aren't going to hold back the Sherman tank of Obama's war chest. For another, the two candidates are practically indistinguishable on many issues, and to court the socially conservative fringes of the Republican party, Romney's going to have to break from Obama in ways that are going to make him look utterly insane.

But I digress. The only way I see Romney winning is if, on election day, Democrats simply don't show up to vote. I would be shocked––really, really shocked––if Barack Obama doesn't bury Mitt Romney in a landslide victory later this year. I suppose I'm disappointed that, with so many passionate liberals in Idaho, so few of them thought it was worth their time to at least check the event out.