I attended our local caucus, in favor of Howard Dean. We had four delegates to send to the county convention, and 56 people attended the caucus. I wound up being the delegate for the Dean group, the Edwards group got a delegate, and the Kerry group got two delegates. Only 4 souls showed up to support Gephardt, 6 showed up for Kucinich, none for Sharpton, Leiberman, or Clark. So, I guess I'm going to the Black Hawk county convention on March 13, to support Howard Dean. Kerry had a great night tonight, as did Edwards, but I don't think this is over for Dean, not by a long shot. He's got a lot of supporters nation-wide, and I can't wait to see what happens in New Hampshire.

This was the first caucus I'd ever attended, and I kind of enjoyed it. I've heard all the arguments about what a bad predictor the caucus is, and how they're such a small subset of voters, but it feels good to participate in such a grass-roots democratic process. There were no slick salesmen present, just honest and friendly neighbors, respectful of each other's differences, but dedicated to their candidates of choice, and willing to engage in meaningful discussions about issues, which is decidedly not the kind of debate you see on Crossfire or Hannity & Colmes.