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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney may never set foot in Forest Lake, but their bids for party presidential nomination may motivate some folks from the area to trot off to precinct caucus meetings Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Minnesota is one of 22 states offering primary contests or precinct caucus straw ballots on Feb. 5 to help political parties determine who they will nominate to run for the top political job in the land.
In Minnesota, Feb. 5 is the night for the DFL, the Republican and Independence parties to meet. Party platform planks, party officers and delegates to the county convention will also be part of the business of the night.
The Constitution Party will conduct its caucus on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Green Party is not slated to caucus until March 4.
Interest growing
The spirited bids on the national stage for the Democratic and Republican presidential nomination may be just the tonic needed to spark some interest in caucus night in the Forest Lake area.
Leaders of the District 52 DFL and Republican parties in Washington and Anoka counties both believe it is so.
John Meader, Scandia, Senate District 52 Republican Chair, believes the five Forest Lake precincts will outshine the total of 72 caucus attendees from 2006. “I am sure we will have better participation,” Meader said.
How many will turnout is uncertain, but Meader is optimistic.
“If we could get 100 people out, we’d be doing well,” he added.
The DFL, however, is hoping to build on its record turnout from 2006. Two years ago the District 52A precinct caucus meetings saw 276 participants, according to Bill Eggers of May Township, Senate District 52 DFL Chair.
He’s optimistic the total number of attendees could reach close to 500 on Feb. 5 for all District 52A precincts as a strong sign of political interest for local and national races.
No speculation
Both Eggers and Meader refuse to speculate as to how party faithful will vote when the presidential preference vote is taken on Feb. 5. Both are planning votes that night, but with one major difference.
The Republican vote will be non-binding while the DFL will be binding and help determine state delegates to the national convention in Denver.
Meader looks at the Republican straw ballot next Tuesday as “a snap shot of grassroots delegates.” The actual determination of who wins the state support for the presidential nomination won’t be made until the state convention in Rochester on May 29, he says.
For now, Meader says “there is no clear choice” in Minnesota. “And you see that nationally, as well,” he adds.
The statewide results will be reported to the Secretary of State and will be analyzed nationally by the media, but are non-binding. “It’s not the same as a primary,” Meader said. “It doesn’t have that kind of weight.”
Eggers is convinced the DFL vote on Feb. 5 will be important in the Super Tuesday races. “Feb. 5 is going to be a huge night,” he said.
Who wins is anyone’s guess, he says, adding that he has been impressed by the early political organization in the state by the Obama campaign. The U.S. Senator from Illinois has had workers in the state for some time, Eggers said.
“They have had more of a presence in our local unit that I have ever seen,” he said. “This goes back 20 years.”
How it works
While the Republican vote is non-binding, the DFL vote will count.
According to the DFL Party, the Presidential Preference Ballot is binding – which means that it determines the allocation of delegates for each candidate at the DNC. This is different from the Minnesota GOP caucuses, where their presidential straw poll is not binding and has no impact on delegate allocation at the Republican National Convention that comes to St. Paul.
The results of the DFL presidential preference ballot are binding on how the 72 pledged delegates (and 12 alternates) are allocated among the presidential candidates who reach the 15 percent viability threshold.
The latter means Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina must receive a minimum of 15 percent of the presidential preference ballots cast in at least one of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts in order to be allocated any delegates to the DNC.
The state will determine its allocation of delegates based on percentages.
The caucus night vote is the first step in that process. Voting in the presidential preference will be open from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at each caucus site.
Anyone who will be eligible to vote in Minnesota by Nov. 4, 2008 may vote in the presidential preference ballot. Ballots must be cast in person; absentee balloting is not allowed.
Anyone age 16 or over may participate in caucus business.
The Minnesota DFL will send 88 delegates and 12 alternates to the national convention. Those numbers are determined in part on past Democratic performance and part on population. 72 will be pledged and 16 are unpledged.
Want to take part?
For those wishing to take part, here are the sites for area caucus meetings. All formal meetings start at 7 p.m. on Feb. 5 unless otherwise listed.
Senate District 52
Independence Party: Stonebridge Elementary School, Stillwater, all precincts.
Constitution Party: Kingswood Church, Blaine, all precincts, 10 a.m., Feb. 2.
Republican Party: Forest Lake High School, 6101 Scandia Trail N., all five city of Forest Lake precincts; Scandia Elementary School, Scandia precinct; Columbus Town Hall, Columbus precinct; and Linwood Town Hall, Linwood precinct.
DFL Party: Century Junior High School, 21395 Goodview Ave. N., Forest Lake, all five Forest Lake precincts, Scandia, Columbus, Linwood precincts, and city of Hugo Ward 2, Precinct 1.
Senate District 17
Independence Party: North Branch Senior High School, all precincts.
DFL Party: Wyoming Elementary School, 25701 Forest Blvd., Wyoming, city of Wyoming and Wyoming Township precincts.
Republican Party: Wyoming Elementary School, 25701 Forest Blvd., Wyoming, city of Wyoming and Wyoming Township precincts.
Constitution Party: Kingswood Church, Blaine, all precincts, 10 a.m., Feb. 2.
For more information on the Feb. 5 precinct caucus night, visit the Minnesota Secretary of State web page at: www.sos.state.mn.us and click on the precinct caucus finder link.
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