Nick and I went to the Kansas Democratic caucus last night, and it was total craziness. For starters, there was a record turnout. Two thousand two hundred and eighteen people were all crammed into the livestock area of the Douglas County Fairgrounds. (Do I even need to point out the whole people-as-cattle thing going on here?) The event was set to start at 7 p.m., but the caucus organizers let us know pretty early that it would be delayed until 7:30 so that the new/undeclared voters could register as Democrats. There were tons of people voting for the first time, which was really really cool.

Caucus timeline:

6:00 -- Nick and I arrive at the Fairgrounds. We stand in line #1 to get a little red entry ticket.

7:00 -- We arrive at the check-in table for registered Democrats. My name is on the list, but Nick's is not.

7:00-7:15 -- We stand in line #2 so that Nick can register.

7:15 -- Nick and I enter the cattle enclosure!

7:15-8:00 -- The organizers ask us to move to our candidate's section and join a group of 25. We do so. Then we stand around and I play my DS a little. By the way, Liza Minnelli was in our group. We also glimpsed Seth Rogen, Brian Greene, and...um...Dick Cheney.

8:00-8:20 -- Stuff happens. Seriously, at this point things are beginning to blur together. I think, though, that the volunteers were doing some slow-motion math in order to determine how many people were in attendance.

8:20 -- The organizer gives us the totals. About 350 for Clinton, 40ish for Edwards, 50ish for Kucinich, and the remainder for Obama.

8:30 -- A representative from each candidate's group gets up to make a sales pitch.

9:00 -- Realignment happens. Voters whose candidates don't meet the viability minimums gravitate toward other groups.

9:20-9:40 -- A new round of slow-motion math occurs.

9:45 -- The totals are announced: 9 delegates for Obama, and 2 for Clinton.

After that we were free to go. Oh, and by the time we left there was a blizzard going on. A bunch of cars got stuck in the slushy mud. We almost did, too, until a couple of awesome college students gave us a push.

Now for the griping. (You knew it was coming, right?) Despite the fact that Lawrence is a college town and one of the bluest cities in America, the caucus planners were totally unprepared for the number of voters who showed. Seriously. we're Democrats in KANSAS, and this was the first time our vote has ever counted in a primary. Why wouldn't the turnout be huge? My parents attended a caucus in Johnson County, and theirs was so poorly organized that they had to stand outside in the sleety, 20-degree weather for two hours. That's just bad.

Okay, I'm done with the rant. It was a pain, yes, but it was still incredibly exciting to be there and to see how many people were getting involved with the process for the first time. Here are some pictures of the occasion (taken by Nick)!

Here's me with my fancy sticker thingie.

An Obama supporter.

A snapshot of the group early in the evening.

Bill 4 First Lady. Also, that red knit cap in the foreground has Halliburton written on it.

Did I mention we were in a giant cowpen?

Some relevant memorabilia.

Another shot of the crowd.