OMAHA, Neb.—Although Nebraska’s first Democratic presidential caucuses led to some glitches, scattered complaints and a bit of confusion, they also brought something rarely seen in this overwhelmingly Republican state—a candidate to its soil.
That itself made the spectacle a success in the mind of Vince Powers, a national committeeman for the party who came up with the idea for Nebraska to caucus.
“For me, whether it was the primary or whether it was the caucus, I just wanted a presidential candidate in Nebraska,” Powers said. “And the only vehicle to do it was to be relevant in the selection process, and it obviously worked.”
Sen. Barack Obama visited the state on Thursday, attracting more than 10,000 people to a rally in downtown Omaha.
The enthusiasm carried to Saturday, as Obama finished with double the support of his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama won 16 of Nebraska’s 24 national delegates.
Presidential candidates have not typically campaigned in Nebraska in the past. The sparsely populated state that hasn’t supported a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. That’s discouraged Democratic candidates from coming, and made it unnecessary for Republican ones to worry about winning here.
Whether Democrats in Nebraska will caucus again remains to be seen. It may depend on whether the national party changes its primary methods next election cycle, to rein in states that attempt to jockey for primary position to have more of an effect on the race. Michigan and Florida held renegade primaries this year and the Democratic National Committee has vowed not to seat any delegates chosen at either of them, effectively cutting out their say in the race.
If the national party enforces uniform methods across the country, that could mean no caucus for Nebraska.
Steve Achelpohl, the state Democratic Party chairman, said that given the overwhelming response to the caucuses, he’d like to see them happen again.
“The bottom line is that people had fun,” Achelpohl said. “I expect we’ll probably do it again.”
More than 14,000 people showed up to 15 caucus sites in Douglas County. Thousands more showed up to a high school in Sarpy County, leaving volunteers there scrambling to handle the crush.
Law enforcement shut down Highway 370 leading into the school and school officials opened up a gym, several classrooms and hallways to accommodate the extra people.
The influx was so massive that volunteers collected candidate preference cards and allowed people to leave. Traditional caucus procedures allow for more interaction, with supporters standing on either side of a room trying to convince the undecided and not-so-sure supporters of other candidates to join them.
In Cherry County in north-central Nebraska, county chairman Bud Pettigrew let each of roughly 100 people speak if they wanted two. Caucus-goers drove to the church in heavy snow, as much as 60 miles from neighboring Brown and Keya Paha counties.
Pettigrew said he felt bad asking people to stay because the weather was so bad.
“I had to ask these people to stay and wait and for everyone have their peace and say what they wanted,” Pettigrew said. “There’s people wanting to leave, and I didn’t blame them there.”
Pettigrew said he also received complaints from older citizens who didn’t want to participate in the caucus because their vote would not be anonymous.
“I like the fact that Nebraska’s important this year … but I think we need to figure out moving our primary to an earlier date in the year if it’s that important,” he said.
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