For a few hours last night it actually felt like I lived in a democracy for the first time since September 11th, 2001. Hyperbole? That’s debatable, and because it is debatable, it’s a shame.

Thanks to C-SPAN, viewers had a unique opportunity to watch the inner workings of a caucus in Dubuque, Iowa. I sat in thrall for two hours as the process played out. People divided into groups based on their preferences. When some candidates failed to reach the needed 15%, the real action began. It was fascinating to watch the very determined precinct captains try to lure voters from the candidates with less than 15% to their respective campaigns. The passion and dedication displayed was truly inspiring and I was amazed by the weight that each of the caucus-goers gave to their decisions.

No one there took their responsibility lightly and although they disagreed on which candidate to support, I believe that each and every one knows how important it is to win the general election. Let’s hope that this continues.

C-SPAN followed two young people around for much of their coverage. One was a Dick Gephardt organizer who was franticly trying to get people to switch to Gephardt in hopes of pushing him above 15%. She failed in her effort to gain delegates for Gephardt, but she was an example of a committed citizen, and she deserves a lot of respect. The other person they followed was a Dennis Kucinich supporter who was being wooed by others to switch. He stood his ground and tried to get them to switch to Kucinich. Hopefully he will see that now is the time to support his party.
Both of these kids were under 25, and I hope that they are indicative of others of their age because it doesn’t look like Howard Dean has followed through on his promise to deliver younger voters in the numbers he needed. I do wish he had.

The post-caucus speeches by John Edwards and John Kerry were effective and they are now back in the game. Both offered stinging criticism of the current administration and hope for the future. Congratulations to both of them.

It’s about time to get this election year going. Hopefully the Democrats will soon have a single candidate to go head to head with our corrupt, lying, thieving, traitorous President.

*10% of Americans are waking up this morning saying “Honey, did you know that the election was yesterday? Did Bush win again?”