Dancing the Electoral Two-Step

By Christina Cheng

AUSTIN – They say everything’s bigger in Texas. This year that includes the level of confusion and frustration the state’s Democratic voters have felt navigating Texas’ unique two-part delegate selection process for the 2008 presidential nominee. Texas is the only state in the union to hold both a primary election and a caucus to determine its pledged delegates. In short, Texans get to vote twice.

“I would say 99 percent of people I’ve spoken to have not known what it was or some of them had heard of it, but wanted it to be explained more,” said Elizabeth Dossman, 31, who recently completed a graduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. These days, Dossman works as a precinct captain and volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign. “A lot of my close knit friends are actually angry, saying ‘How come I’ve never heard of this?’”

Dubbed the Texas two-step, the voting process was relatively unknown to the state’s voters before this election because the state has rarely had a significant influence in determining the Democratic presidential nominee. Usually by Super Tuesday, the Tuesday when the greatest number of states holds their primary elections or caucuses, a candidate emerges as that party’s clear frontrunner. But this year’s two remaining Democratic candidates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Obama, remain in a virtual tie.

With neither candidate having scored any decisive victories, March 4 will be Super Tuesday II with 370 delegates up for grabs. And with the most pledged delegates available out of the remaining states, Texas has become a major player in this year’s primary elections. This oversized influence has campaigners and volunteers scrambling to educate Texans about the unfamiliar caucusing process.

“The caucus is a challenge because so many people haven’t participated in the system before,” said Nick Kimball, 26, the Texas spokesman for the Obama campaign.

Larry Walker, 64, an Obama precinct captain, said he thought the idea of delegates based on more than a simple popular vote during the primary was strange. “It doesn’t seem to respect the spirit of democracy,” said Walker.

According to Ed Martin, former Texas Democratic Party executive director and a political consultant in Austin, caucuses, which the Texas Delegate Selection Plan calls precinct conventions, have been around as long as anyone can remember. Although the chance to vote twice can seem convoluted and unfair to some, the two-step process was added in 1988 to increase voter turnout and encourage the democratic process.

“Texas tried to take the best parts of both systems,” Martin said. “Every voter has a chance to cast a vote in the primary and come back and participate in a grassroots organizing convention.”

Primary-chosen delegates account for 126 out of 193 total pledged delegates in Texas and will be added to a candidate’s delegate total on March 4. Determining the 42 caucus-chosen delegates starts with the precinct caucus after the polls close and then the county caucus on March 29. The total won’t be final until the state convention on June 6-7.

Caucusing is as simple as voters going to their precinct, signing their name, identifying the candidate of choice and then leaving. They can stay and debate the merits of their candidate and the issues that will ultimately be part of the state’s Democratic agenda for the year.

The caucusing process rewards the candidate best able to organize and get its voters to attend their precinct caucus. Because Obama has such extensive grassroots support (after all, his Texas support system started as a book club before the official campaign even began) many believe that the caucus will give him an advantage.

For example: House parties have become an integral part of teaching Texans about the importance of caucusing, and Obama’s campaign holds several house parties a week. In contrast, Clinton’s campaign has focused more on rallies than house parties, though more parties have shown up on her Web site’s events page as election day approaches.

Differing from rallies, house parties are more personal social events in people’s homes or apartments, often with food and beverages, as well as plenty of literature about the candidate and swag like buttons or bumper stickers.

“House parties are grassroots politics at its best,” Kimball said. “It’s regular people opening homes to friends and strangers, and so far it’s been pretty effective.”

Michael Garcia, 33, a teacher at Winn Elementary in Northeast Austin, organized a house party to support Obama and specifically invited other teachers to help spread the word about caucusing. “A lot of people didn’t even know about it and we took it upon ourselves as teachers to teach people,” he said.

Kim Pollini, 33, a music teacher at Becker and Sanchez elementary schools, said that Garcia’s was the first house party she had attended and thought they were an effective way to encourage political discussion in a less threatening environment.

“When you have a house party you have a common ground where everybody can get together and relax,” Pollini said. “When it’s face-to-face, it’s more personal and more diplomatic and open.”

That makes for a sweeter two-step to be sure, but whether such campaign efforts will result in the turnout the candidates are hoping for will have to await Tuesday’s big dance at the polls.