The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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January 31, 2010

Our View: Caucuses are political party time

The Free Press

MANKATO — Tuesday night is party time.

To attend a precinct caucus, you have to choose which political party’s gathering to attend. (Visit the secretary of state’s Web site at http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ to find party meeting locations. Sign-in usually begins around 6:30 p.m.)

To those who have never attended, the meetings are grass roots, neighborhood gatherings open to any eligible voters. Those attending will begin the process of deciding which candidates the party will endorse. Participants may propose resolutions on issues they want the party to take a stance on.

The Republican, DFL and Independence parties also will be holding nonbinding straw polls to gauge support for gubernatorial hopefuls of which there are about 20 this year.

And a key point to the gathering is to identify delegates to send to the party’s convention, where they will cast endorsement ballots for candidates.

There has been much discussion, which resurfaces around caucus time, about how valuable the gatherings are. For example, gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton asked to be taken off the DFL straw ballot during the caucus. Instead, he is focusing on the primary election, which is likely to be moved up by the Legislature to this summer so members of the military have more time to cast absentee ballots.

The last caucus, in 2008, proved popular because of the presidential election, with participants at some locations packing the rooms.

In reality, precinct caucus night is a hodgepodge of activity that energizes some and leaves others shaking their heads. If fewer people value it now, perhaps it’s outdated. But it’s the system we have in place and is part of our democratic process. The more people that show up, the less chance of extremist views steering the direction of state politics.

So if you have time to check out what the party of your choice is up to, attend your precinct caucus. At the very least, you’ll have an opportunity to gauge what your neighbors are thinking when it comes to politics.

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