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#NeverBernie, or What I Saw in Las Vegas
I believe that Bernie Sanders poses an existential danger to our Republic, so is it incumbent on me to do all that I can to stop him. To that end, after leaving work on Friday, I drove 250+ miles to Las Vegas. Once I arrived, I googled “Nevada Biden Office” and drove to the nearest office, arriving at 9:16 p.m. after they had finished their last class.
I spoke to the staffer asking how I could help. She gave me a crash course on how to be a “Precinct Captain.” I learned more about the byzantine nine-step caucus procedures that probably 99% of people who have not been in a caucus know about. It was mind-numbing. I was then given a bag with written instructions, a t-shirt with “Biden Precinct Captain” emblazoned on it inside an outline of Nevada, and a huge four-inch button with Joe’s smiling face and “Biden Precinct Captain” on it. Ah, the swag! I then went to Walmart to get a battery pack to supplement my iPhone. The first hotel I went to was sold out. I finally tumbled into bed just before 1 a.m. I set my alarm to get up at 5 a.m. given that I had a 6:45 a.m. meeting to go to.
I woke up at 4:58 a.m. Was I tired? Sure. But I was energized. I zoomed over to “The Strat” (formerly known as “The Stratosphere”) and went to their Starbucks to meet with other “out of town” team members. I was 15 minutes early. I followed the Jack Reacher maxim to never miss a chance to eat, so I got oatmeal and a Danish. (I was surprised to discover that unlike any other Starbucks I have ever gone to, this Starbucks charged for soymilk for my oatmeal. The server noted “I am on camera” as she apologized.)
We had a great crew of people, several from Arizona and California who had driven in and one man who had flown in from New York! Then we were sent off to another Biden Headquarters to receive more last-minute instructions. While there, I picked up more tee-shirts. Then I was off to Desert Oasis High School in Enterprise, Nevada. Since I was running early, I followed the Jack Reacher maxim and stopped at Denny’s to fuel up.
I got to Desert Oasis High School before 9:30 a.m. This was the time for the campaign staff to check-in. Since I was out of state, I was given an orange armband designating that I was an “observer” and could not talk once the caucus started. The Bernie campaign had the most volunteers, followed by Pete, Joe, Amy, Steyer, and Warren. All of the volunteers were respectful and friendly. The most common statement by a volunteer for Campaign A to a volunteer for Campaign B was to praise the strong points of the other candidate. (Note: I did not strike up any conversations with anyone from the Bernie campaign, as I have nothing positive to say about him.) At 10:00 a.m. the doors were opened to the voters. The place was packed. There were massive lines some 20 deep. But there was no complaining. Of note, some of the early voting sites had had waits of up to four hours, so this was seen as a better option. By far, the most popular person in the cavernous hallway was a member of the Nevada Assembly who was there to hand out free water bottles to her constituents. Smart lady.
I was given the list of people from my precinct who were “1’s” and “2’s” and was told to call them. I left voice-mail messages and a couple of messages with people who relay to the voters. I got two voters. One said that she had a family emergency and could not come. The other one, Valerie, said that that she would be seeing me at the Middle School. “Oh no, they have combined precincts, we will be at Desert Oasis High School.” “Thank you, dear, I would have gone to the middle school, and then would have gone home. How will I recognize you?” “I am a 67-year-old bald man.” “I will look forward to visiting with you.” More about Valerie later.
At noon, they stopped accepting voters. The toughest job in the room was to be designated as a “stopper,” the person who would stand at the end of the line and not allow anyone else into the line.
I stood behind where people were checking in and offered them “Team Joe” stickers. Next to me was a nice lady who was begging people to consider Amy as their second choice.
Despite the long lines, people were of good cheer and chatted to each other. My precinct area started to slowly fill up. I mentioned that since I was out of state, once the caucus began, I would not speak once the caucus got going. I asked if any Biden voters would be willing to serve as “Biden Precinct Co-Captains” noting that they would get a cool t-shirt like mine and a huge four-inch button. Two women volunteered and I gave them their swag.
I was walking by an elderly black woman with a cane. She said “Gary?” My response was “You must be Valerie! I am so happy to see you!”
We finally got started at 1:20 p.m. We had 19 voters, and observers from the Biden, Sanders, and Klobuchar campaigns. (The three observers and the Precinct Chair had all parachuted in from out-of-state.) We then started this intricate process. First, we elected our Precinct Chair. Then she asked for someone who had clear handwriting to serve as our Precinct Secretary. Two different people counted the 19 voters present. Okay. Please raise your hand if you are voting for Biden. Six hands went up. The Chair saw that Valerie had a cane, so she asked that Biden voters all cluster around her. The original alignment of people present was as follows:
- 6 Biden
- 5 Buttigieg
- 3 Sanders
- 5 Warren
I was thrilled. Sanders had only three people. Ha, ha, ha.
The next step was the great reveal of what the “early votes” were. Ugh. They were as follows:
- 1 Bennet
- 4 Biden
- 5 Buttigieg
- 25 Sanders
- 4 Steyer
- 2 Warren
- 1 Yang
Ugh. 25 for Sanders! Yikes! Adding the numbers together we had:
- 1 Bennet
- 10 Biden
- 10 Buttigieg
- 28 Sanders
- 4 Steyer
- 7 Warren
- 1 Yang
The total number of people was 63. 15% of 63 is 9.45 people. Rounding up would be 10 people. Biden and Buttigieg were barely viable. Warren was not. The five Warren voters were crest-fallen. They were such a committed earnest group. I felt sorry for them (but not sorry for Warren as she is almost as bad as Bernie). I turned to Valerie. “You made the difference. If you hadn’t been here, we would not be viable.” She smiled back at me.
The early voters had to designate their first three to five choices on their early votes, so those votes were reassigned as follows to the three viable candidates:
- 6 Biden
- 10 Buttigieg
- 27 Sanders
Then the poor five Warren supporters were given a harsh choice. They could join the Biden, Buttigieg, or Sanders groups. Or they could leave. The five crushed Warren supporters consoled each other. They were heartbroken. They did not understand how anyone could not see the obvious merits of Warren. The Chair said that each of the five would need to make their own decision. The three remaining groups were each given one minute to make a pitch to the forlorn Warren supporters. The Sanders voter said “Elizabeth was my second choice. Please join us.” I forget what the Buttigieg voter said. The Biden voters turned to me to speak. I said that I couldn’t speak as I was not a Nevada voter. One of my appointed “Co-Captains” then stood up and said that Biden had the best chance of beating Trump. People started joking about washing a Warren voter’s car if they would join their group.
Biden got only one of the five Warren voters, and Buttigieg and Sanders each got two of the Warren voters.
The final result adding the early votes and the voters in the room was:
- 13 Biden
- 17 Buttigieg
- 32 Sanders
We had nine delegates to send to the County Convention. There were 62 votes altogether. (One of the early voters did not include Biden, Buttigieg or Warren, so their vote didn’t count.)
Here’s how the math went:
- Biden: 13 X 9 / 62 = 1.8571 delegates
- Buttigieg: 17 X 9 / 62 = 2.4286 delegates
- Sanders: 32 X 9 / 62 = 4.5714 delegates
Using the first round of rounding this ended up with
- Biden: 2 delegates
- Buttigieg: 2 delegates
- Sanders: 5 delegates
Since we were assigned nine delegates, this all worked out.
However, there are terribly complicated rules as to how to round up if this had resulted in eight delegates or round down if there were 10 delegates. If those rules ended in a tie, then we entered the world of chance. In Iowa, they flipped coins. But this was Nevada. They would draw cards, with an Ace being high and a Two being low. If they had the same number, then they went by suits, with Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs in that order. Thank goodness we didn’t get to that level of detail. (This is not unlike the NFL where one year under Tom Landry where the Cowboys had to beat the Redskins by at least 15 points in the final week of the season to get past the eighth or so tie-breaker. What a mess.)
The final step was to elect delegates to the County Convention. The three people who had made pitches to the Warren delegates all decided that they wanted to go to the County Convention. I assume that the other delegates will be filled in by their campaigns in the future.
The observers took pictures of the worksheet and texted it to our headquarters. At 2:50 p.m. we were done.
I got back on the road to Flagstaff. I was dead tired. I had resolved to stop driving long distances at night in the last year. But heck, Flagstaff was only 250 miles away. I zoomed along the interstate. I noticed that I had a sore throat coming on. It began to rain. The sky grew dark. And I persisted. When I arrived in Kingman, I decided to drive through town. I then noticed blue and red lights wig-wagging behind me. I pulled over. The officer came up to me.
“Do you know why I stopped you?”
“No.”
“Do you notice that it is raining?”
“Yes.”
“Do you notice that it is twilight?”
“Yes.”
“What would that suggest to you?”
I paused and could not think of the answer. Then, “Oh, I should turn on my lights.”
“Yes. I flashed my brights at you twice, but you ignored me. Are you almost home?”
“No, I live in Flagstaff [150 miles away].”
“You might want to get a room to stay the night as you appear to be exhausted. I don’t want to scrape your body off of the pavement.”
I took this as good advice. When I was in my 20s I would be in a seminar in LA until 2 a.m. and then drive 400 miles to get home. Driving 150 miles is a piece of cake. But I am now 67 years old. I got a room, and then treated myself to a nice dinner. I went to bed at 9. I slept for 11 hours.
A final thought. Caucuses may have made sense 100 years ago when people needed focus groups to come to decisions. But they appear to be hugely ineffective and inefficient. My heart went out to Valerie who was exhausted by the process. I hope that we have seen the last caucuses in America. They are a relic that needs to be retired.
Published in Elections
I used to believe that too. But I kept asking myself: how is it that these good and decent people consistently support those who are doing such bad and indecent things. After years of wrestling with this, I came to the conclusion that I had confused good and decent with nice. Plenty of my liberal neighbors are nice, in the sense that they are friendly and easy to get along with. But good? When they are actively seeking to destroy America, its values, and our way of life? I can’t call that good.
Amy Klobuchar has made a point that Pro-Life people must be welcome in the Democratic President.
Democratic Senators Bob Casey (PA) and Joe Manchin (WV) consistently vote Pro-Life.
You look at the Democrat field and you don’t see the totalitarians these “good and decent people” are voting for? “Sure, Castro was authoritarian, but he taught his people to read!” — Bernie Sanders. As Klavan says, you don’t get to balance good things against slavery. Once your husband beats you, it doesn’t matter that he puts a roof over your head and buys you nice things.
I have some “good and decent” people like this in my family (not many, thank God), and friends who will vote ABT (anyone but Trump). They’re damaged and misguided people. I love them, but they’re cooperating with evil and the only thing that can free them is some good, hard truth.
Dude. “Warm like Klobuchar”? Really? Is that like “Soft like concrete?” Suck up to her directly, man. She doesn’t read Ricochet.
You must ask yourself, “Why are they Democrats, then?” In a party completely hostile to them. Is it because they must identify as D to get elected?
Amy Kloubechar abuses her staff. She’s looking for an alternate lane to the rest of the hostile to pro-life Democrats field. She is not a good and decent person. She’s Hillary Clinton lite.
They’ll prove it by voting for the only good and decent candidate this fall: President Trump. There are open-minded Democrats. They voted for Trump in 2016. Nevers are Dems’ only guaranteed votes in 2020. Everyone else is up for grabs.
I’d just like to point out here that we Trump supporters are talking about policy effects of voting for Democrats and Gary is still critiquing Trump’s style. It’s meat and potatoes versus lite vegan dressing on your organic greens.
How is that different from the argument that German citizens were good and decent people under the Nazis , just the politicians were bad? But they supported and enabled those Nazis! (I’m not calling Democrats Nazis… I’m just saying that if you support evil politicians, you have some culpability for the evil policies they perpetrate.)
Sure some Democrat politicians might still be decent and not support the things I listed. But by and large, the party supports, in fact, demands support of those things. Can you still be a decent person and enable that? If you don’t support any of those things, and see them as inherently immoral, then how can you still be a Democrat?
For someone so adamant about your opposition to Trump on character and decency grounds, how do you overlook the log in the Democrat’s eyes?
I’m reminded that the reason that the Democrats could not go full single payer health care back in 2008-2009 was opposition from moderate Democrats.
Sanders concerns me a lot, but he won’t be able to do as much damage as we might fear.
He may well be sincere when he now claims to disavow the excesses of Soviet Communism, but he has glossed over too much over the years. He may love justice, but he does not love the truth enough.
A lot has changed over the last 12 years. I’m not convinced that “moderate” Democrats would be able to stop the far-left crazies that now control the party. They couldn’t stop this silly Impeachment thing. Instead, they all went along with it like sheep. Nancy got steamrolled and she’s lost complete control.
And as with the impeachment, can’t you just see Mitt Romney voting for single-payer because of his hatred for Trump and desire to be beloved of all Democrats? I can already hear the pious speechifying where he declares that following his conscience required him to destroy the U.S. healthcare system.
Why not, Nazis were Socialists and Bernie is a socialist. Communism killed more people than Nazism, yet Bernie and other Democrats suck up to them repeatedly.
No no . . . they ignore the Socialist part. Rather, it’s “Nazis were Nationalists!” and therefore Nationalism is evil. Only Globalism is good.
I am just glad that Gary went to support the serial groper and fabulist, Joe Biden.
Did you know he was arrested on his way to visit Mandela while he was a US Senator? And that Mandela thanked him for enduring the arrest?
All members of the Resistance focus on style and tone. All people of the right focus on things of significance. It’s the fundamental difference between people of the right and those of the left: People of the right look at the world and say “I see this. What do you think about that thing we both see?” People of the left skip over God’s world and try to go straight to their interlocutor’s mind: “I think this. Why don’t you think what I do?”
I’m OK with calling them Pinkos and Marxists! I just don’t violate Godwin’s law if I can help myself.
I have this discussion with my wife sometimes. I might say something negative (who, me?) about someone we know- and we know a lot of different people- and she’ll say, but he or she is “nice”. Well, she has stopped for the most part because she knows I will say some of the following:
Everybody is nice. It’s a meaningless word.
Ted Bundy was nice. Jeffery Dhamer was nice. Jim Jones was nice. Etc.
So, come to think of it, people with a bad agenda, scammers, charlatans and serial killers need to be ‘nice’ in order to operate. The odds could well be that more ‘bad’ people are better at being nice than good ones. I’m someone who is good but not especially nice, myself.
We actually don’t know whether most people are “good and decent” until we experience them fully in some kind of stressful situation(s). Likewise, we don’t know that someone isn’t, either.
I can’t begin to count how many people I’ve thought highly of and then been disappointed. Mitt Romney?
And it could get much worse. Political winds shifts rapidly. Who is to know how many moderate Dems will even be left towards the end of a Bernie administration.
I’ve decided that, for me, the important thing to note is they’ve all always been this way, since forever. Ok, some of the middlewits drift this way and that, but the real front row has always been insane murderous left since forever. The extent of the fall isn’t evident to the fallen or to the casual observer; it’s only that its expression is conditioned by the need for tolerance from society. As society is driven left, the natural leftists will always be ahead of the wave. There is no natural limit to their depravity.
Latest Fox poll:
Biden 49% Trump 41%
Sanders 49% Trump 42%
Looks like NeverBernie isn’t catching on like NeverTrump so far. He needs to get scarier. I still think Bernie would be easier to beat, but seems like voters increasingly don’t care.
And Nevers trust pollsters, too! Interesting.
As it happens, my brother knows somebody who worked with Dahmer’s defense team. Said to just sit and talk with him (Dahmer), was as nice a guy as you’d want to meet.
And people who mean well can do grave harm. It’s why I give so little credit to good intentions. The road to hell and all that.
That’s because he likes people. Medium rare.
That sounds like claiming today’s “Democrats” are no different from those in the 80s, and could be dealt with the same way.
With favre beans and a nice chianti.
(insert random OJ Simpson joke, rinse, lather, repeat)
That other guy did a pretty good job of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SSVIg4Noqc
So, style trumps substance?
I think that Trump has loaded up lots and lots oppo on Sanders, and has already used it up on Biden.