Caucuses had 'em lined up
By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published February 5, 2008 at 7:09 p.m.
Photo by Judy DeHaas © The Rocky
People crowded into the lunchroom at Horace Mann Middle School for the Colorado Democratic caucus. Hillary Clinton received 16 votes for precinct 515 and Barack Obama received 54 votes from precinct 515.
Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky
Doug Hartmann, GOP captain for precinct 52, holds an American flag so that those who attended the caucus to say the pledge of allegiance during the GOP Douglas County caucus at Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch. Two years ago 11 people participated in the caucus and today there are 58.
Massive crowds of enthusiastic caucus-goers poured into numerous sites Tuesday night, creating traffic jams, leaving organizers scrambling to find enough space and delaying the start of caucusing.
Streams of people and parking shortages were reported at Overland High School, Broomfield, Stapleton, Park Hill, north Denver, Boulder and many other locations.
"I'm standing in line with 1,000 people in Broomfield. They expected 200 — had 35 last time. It probably will take hours just to check everyone in," said Republican Jason Dunn, a former top dog with the Colorado attorney general, about 7:20 p.m. "This is nuts."
He e-mailed back a half-hour later to say that 2,000 people were at Broomfield Heights Middle School: "Broomfield is now giving people option of voting in presidential race and leaving, or staying around to vote for all the other stuff. They literally can't fit everyone in middle school gym so they had to do something else. I'm still in line to check in."
Hundreds of Democrats were trying to get into Overland Highland School for the 20 precinct caucuses scheduled for there, but were encountering a huge traffic jam.
"I have never seen anything like this," said state Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora.
She said that traditionally, about 100 to 200 people total show up for the 30 precinct caucuses held at Overland.
But there were already more than 1,000 people inside the building, and hundreds more were caught in traffic, or trying to find parking spaces.
"Oh my gosh, we had so many people it was packed elbow-to-elbow in the cafeteria and no one could even move," Williams said. "They moved half the precincts to the auditorium so people could even function."
Dick Wadhams, Colorado Republican Party chairman, was shocked when he showed up at his precinct caucus at Columbine High School.
"I've been living in the same precinct for 26 years, and the maximum number I've ever seen in 12 people," he said.
"There are at least 50 people here now, and they are still signing in. This is stunning. This is really fun."
House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said, "Wow — huge turnout. My precinct alone has filled up the school cafeteria. Not enough chairs. Usually only about 8 people show up to my precinct."
At Alameda High School, acting district chair Rick Urbanowski predicted that the high turnout would turn the Democratic precinct caucuses into "a flippin' zoo."
Early indications supported his prediction.
People were stuffed into classrooms and the cafeteria, which was earmarked as the meeting place for 28 precincts. The noise level rose as voters searched for places to sit.
Urbanowski said he kept in close touch with the school during the past few days as the number of caucus-goers increased, adding more rooms that the party could use for caucus meetings.
"The school was not made to handle numbers like that," he said. "It started out, we were just going to meet in the cafeteria, but we've had to add more and more large classrooms."
As the evening wore on, folks were getting frazzled.
"Sorry, everybody. Our numbers people are lost," Urbanowski said. He explained that it might take some time before people knew where to go for their individual caucuses.
"Patience, people! We're doing our best," he said. "We're expecting 8 to 10 times the numbers we've had in the past."
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February 5, 2008
8:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
lordheinrich writes:
I had to give up on voting. I couldn't even get into the building at Grandview High School. There were hundreds of cars trying to cram into the school lots and the parking lot across the street, when more than a hundred cars were already illegally parked. I have to question whether the officials in this state really want us to vote, when the means of voting discourages as many people as possible. Why does it seem like everyone in the 80015 and 80016 zip codes were expected to be able to fit into one high school. This is among the worst run events I have ever seen.
February 5, 2008
9:47 p.m.
Suggest removal
bookwerm writes:
Just left my east Boulder County Colorado Caucus.
Was 4 to 1 for Obama. Huge interest, very crowded. Overall, they are saying 2/1 for Obama in colorado, but if my group is any indication, expect Obama to win very very big.
February 6, 2008
12:22 a.m.
Suggest removal
JohnSWren writes:
How many bright, young political leaders were born tonight?
This big turn out can mark a turning of the tide in Colorado, making possible a big, big revival of the grassroots.
Good leadership will be necessary, but tonight can be a springboard for the Colorado Caucus finally being truely saved after the attacks it has suffered from powerful forces over the last decade, forces that want to kill our neighborhoods and stifle the voice of the common person.
Join us to discuss tonight at:
Denver Socrates Cafe, Thursday, Feb 7, 7 p.m., Trinity Church, 18th & Broadway, Denver. Topic: The Colorado Caucus and the concept of representative government. More info and RSVP at http://socratescafe.meetup.com/82
Denver IDEA Cafe, Friday, Feb 8, 2 p.m., Panera Bread, 13th & Grant, Denver. Topic: We'll share our experience with the Colorado Caucus and brainstorm ways it can be improved for 2010 and beyound. More info and RSVP at http://ideacafe.meetup.com/1
Long live the Colorado Caucus!
February 6, 2008
7:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
Lobo123 writes:
I've never been to a precinct caucus before, so last night was an educational experience for me. My precinct commitee person said that he has been to every caucus since 1964 and he had never seen this many people show up. Two years ago, he and his wife were the only people there!
This was great for politics in Colorado!
Now we need to do a better job of educating the public on what a caucus entails. I think most of the people were expecting to be able to show up, vote, and go home; like they do in a primary. They didn't realize there was much more involved than that. Everyone got a great civics lesson last night, lets hope that contiues.
LordHenrich, I am sorry for your bad experience, but no one predicted this kind of turnout. This was easily 10 to 20 times the turnout we normally get.