Super Tuesday 2008

Yes, I know it is Mardi Gras. I am planning to wear a costume and my beads to the Democratic Caucus site this afternoon. The big thing for me today is that it is Super Tuesday and my one chance to cast a ballot I know will be counted.

While Super Tuesday is the closest thing the United States has to a national primary only 24 states will be having a primary or caucus today. New Mexico has had a Democratic caucus only since 2004. I voted in the first. My candidate won the caucus and the nomination. Still in my community it was a fascinating process.

There was (and I am told still will be) a ballot box like they show you in all the replays of Iraq elections. And in 2004 we had 1/4 page ballots that had been printed off quickly. I have been told they are more formal about that this year, and that several people who have already withdrawn from the race will still have their names on it like favorite son and Governor of our state - Bill Richardson, and Senator John Edwards. If I knew the outcome of this primary I might just vote for one of them as a statement that because of our broken political system the good guys lost.

But enough sour grapes. This is the one part of the entire 2008 Presidential election process when I am sure my vote will be counted. I know it was not counted in the general election of 2004 because to be sure there was a paper trail I cast an absentee ballot to avoid using a computerized voting machine with no back up systems. The absentee ballots were never counted because of the spread in the electronic votes which could never be recounted. We are one of the states where it is considered vast voting irregularities (spin-doctoring for cheating) occurred.

The Democratic caucus results will be few this year and representing probably the southern part of our state because the northern part is under a continued Winter Storm Warning. Rio Arriba County had five feet of snow yesterday with more falling today. They are one of the heavily Democratic counties that in the Presidential election of 2004 some 75% of those voting supposedly did not cast a vote for president. Lucky Bush.

Getting out into the designated voting site in nearby Angel Fire may not be easy because snow is coming down at a furious rate but I will make every attempt to do so. I will be watching to see if the Republican run county gets out the snow plows to make it possible for us Democrats to cast a vote.