Practicing for the precincts
WEST BURLINGTON — If Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich gets the same level of support in next week's precinct caucuses in Iowa as he did Thursday in a mock caucus at Southeastern Community College, his darkhorse candidacy will get a serious shot in the arm.
Though the former Cleveland mayor did not have the most votes at the event, his second–place tie with poll leader and former Vermont governor Howard Dean clearly made Kucinich the winner — even though Massachusetts senator John Kerry had one more vote.
Mock caucus co–organizer Norm Fry, a history teacher at SCC, said Kucinich shouldn't take a cue from Thursday's outcome to plan future campaigning in other states beyond New Hampshire.
"Predictive its not," Fry said, noting that the free food, soda and, in the case of his students, extra credit, probably drew in people who likely wouldn't have come otherwise.
And that's probably good news for Missouri congressman Dick Gephardt.
Gephardt, who has been running second in pre–caucus polling to Dean, did not have enough supporters at the caucus to be a viable candidate and so received no votes.
Kerry's 26 votes was tops, while Kucinich and Dean each garnered 25. North Carolina senator John Edwards tallied 15 votes, while Republicans in the room totaled 16 votes for President Bush and his re–election bid.
Based on the vote totals, Kerry, Kucinich and Dean each earned four hypothetical delegates, while Edwards earned two.
The goal of the event was to show students how caucuses work, and what they will experience if they go to their individual caucus sites Monday evening.
"This is just about the way it will look," Fry said.
Besides lobbying others in attendance at the mock caucus to support their candidate before forming into groups to show who they supported, attendees also went through the process of writing platform issues. Fry read the proposals aloud, but unlike a real caucus, there was no debate about them, and all will be forwarded for consideration at the Democratic and Republican parties' county conventions.
Students siding with the Republicans said they want the national party to focus on keeping jobs in the hands of Americans, not illegal aliens; providing more aid to college students; incentives for private school students; abolition or reform of the electoral college; and the legalization of cannabis.
Democratic party students want to abolish the electoral college, raise the national minimum wage, increase federal spending on education, reduce the military budget, stop the flow of jobs out of the country, halt trade with China until human rights issues are addressed and repeal the No Child Left Behind act, among others.
SCC student and Kucinich supporter Scott Blom of Burlington said he believes the actual caucus meetings will have Kucinich on top in the end. Fellow Kucinich supporter Bill Thele of Burlington, who is attending SCC after losing his job at Case Corp. to the North American Free Trade Agreement, is hopeful of the same thing.
Dean supporter Carrie Thames, a student at SCC and former Illinois resident who is looking forward to her first caucus, said she found the mock event to be a good learning experience. She looks for a lot more Dean supporters to come out Monday and make her candidate the clear winner.
Charles Allen of Morning Sun, a Gephardt supporter who wound up in the Kerry camp, said he is going to his precinct caucus Monday to support his favored candidate.
"I like his stances," Allen said of Gephardt.
Martie Wise Boyd, an SCC student from Danville and a Kucinich supporter who said she cast her first vote for president for Richard Nixon, made an impassioned plea for her fellow students to go to the caucuses and make a difference.
The input of each is more valuable than students might believe.
"It takes a snowflake to start a snowball. It takes a snowball to start an avalanche," she said. "We still have the right to vote. Express your opinion."
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