Nebraska Democrats Caucus for Candidates

Doug McAcy
2.22.08

Shouts of “Hill-ar-y” and “O-bam-a” erupted from the filled-to-capacity gym and cafeteria of PLS as democrats from all over Sarpy County vividly voiced their opinion of which presidential candidate they wanted to win the Nebraska Democratic Caucuses held on Feb. 9.

The initial reports had anticipated a mere 500 participants, but anyone who attended could attest to the number quickly shooting up to a staggering 6,000 shouting democrats braving the single digit temperatures and 20 mph winds while in line outside. 

“It was exciting because it was democracy in action, however, it was poorly organized and very crowded,” first-time voter senior Jerome Dineen said.

Senior Tyler Speck, another student who voted for the first time, was excited to have participated.

“It was definitely an experience for me,” he said. “There were a lot of young people, which was great to see.”

The never-ending line pushing out the fine arts doors of the school and wrapping around and stretching to the stadium parking lot did little to scare away caucus-goers who wanted to be apart of Nebraska history. This marked the first time since 1968 that Nebraska played a major role in deciding the nominee for president.

Early on in 2007, the Nebraska Democratic Party voted to not only move up the party’s nomination process, but also to change the process to become the state’s first-ever caucus.

A caucus is the gathering of a political party to verbally voice their opinion and elect the state’s choice for applied.

“We chose to do this so democrats in Nebraska would have a voice in the presidential election,” chairwoman of the Sarpy County democratic caucus Peg O’Dea Lippert said.

Excitement had been building for the caucus as the party held mock caucuses across the metro and state to teach people how they work and how to convince others to join their candidate’s side. Lippert worked hard on making sure the Sarpy County caucus ran as smoothly as possible.

“I spent all day, every day in January getting this ready,” she said. “We had 47 volunteers who made phone calls and helped with the mock caucuses.”
Leading up to the state’s election process, the metro area garnered national attention as many campaign rallies took place.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) talked to an estimated 15,000 screaming supporters at the Civic Center. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), spoke to students on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University campuses. Michelle Obama, wife of Sen. Obama, also addressed listeners at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Lippert was a supporter of the caucus and the attention that it brought to the state.
“This was an historic event and for the first time in 40 years Nebraska was on the political map,” she said.

Sen. Obama came out of the Nebraska caucuses with a victory over his lone rival in the race, Sen. Clinton. Sen. Obama won the state of Nebraska with 68 percent of the vote. In Democratic primaries and caucuses, delegates are awarded on a proportional basis judged on the outcome of separate legislative districts, rather than a winner-take-all contest in which the candidate gets every delegate at stake in the state.

Delegates are pledged members of the party who will represent and support the candidate in the county, state and national conventions. Although Nebraska’s caucuses alone did not determine the outcome of the democratic presidential race, it enjoyed the political hype and national attention it received during this process.

“It felt great,” Dineen said. “Taking part in a cherished American political process felt wonderful.”

Photo by Taylor Ingraham