"First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, (`the exact shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there. There was no `One, two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out `The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, `But who has won?'"

We caucused! What fun!

Unfortunately for the kids, and Josh, ours was not as eventful as the Dodo's Caucus-Race. Though, having heard and then watched on CNN, it seems the D-Caucus-Race may have been just this eventful. Bummer!

We treated our kids to a wonderful night of caucusing R. Now, the D's had told us we could bring our kids but the R's had told us nothing, so we were hoping for the best. This year, over 80 people showed up in our precinct where-as last time they had less than a dozen I think?  And this is also amazing since we live in a highly D populated city.

I actually did not decide who to caucus for until right before we got there. I was reading stats up until the last minute. I finally took to heart something that Josh had said to me. I don't remember the exact quote, but the essence brought me to the point that I wanted to vote for a person, not because I thought they were going to win or because I knew casting a vote for them would keep someone else from winning, but because I believed that my vote counted, was for something I truly believed in, and hopefully would send a message to the other candidates that they could grow in.

And so, I caucused R. It wasn't until we got in there that I knew what an R caucus was or that I knew how different it was from the D's. The D's in IA have to have a certain percentage to get on the ballot and if you don't have that % then you have to go vote for not your first pick. The R's in IA vote by secret ballot and all votes count. This, made me even more glad to have caucused R - I really wanted my vote to count.

And the boys? Well, they really, really wanted to vote for their Dad but they had to be 17. They definitely learned a lot about the democratic process. They got two compliments for sitting so well from other parents who chose not to bring their kids. And Miriam? She was fairly wiggly in our little section but wasn't loud to the whole room so she survived. She loved looking at the guy sitting next to Josh tattoos the best she said, he had an octopus on his hand that she really liked. (And no, it wasn't Jason's tattoo who sat right behind us too, ;)!)