Around state, Democrats make their choices

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

From Scottsbluff to Falls City, Democrats turned out in the state party's first presidential caucus. Nebraskans were choosing between senators Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York. Thirty-one delegates were at stake.

Johnson County democrats cross county line

In Johnson County, 29 of 1,200 registered Democrats drove across the county line to Auburn to caucus Saturday.

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They met in the Auburn senior center — the same place Nemaha County held its caucus, but in a different room.

True, the number was small, said Lorie Topp, treasurer for the Johnson County Democrats. But it was still worth the drive.

“Actually, it was really interesting,” she said. “We had some good debate going between the two.”

Johnson County Democrats had wanted to hold the caucus in Tecumseh, Topp said. But the county chairman had a sick family member out of state, and things never quite got scheduled, she said.

In the end, Ron Oates of Crab Orchard took over.

“Ours came together at the last minute,” he said of the caucus.

Barack Obama took Johnson County with 17 supporters. Another 11 backed Hillary Clinton, and a lone voter remained uncommitted.

Another result of the caucus: Johnson County also has a new Democratic chairman.

Oates is taking over, at least for now.

And holding a caucus — even if hastily planned and sparsely attended — was a start.

“I was just glad 29 got there,” he said.

‘Passion in the room’ in Dawes County

The Democratic caucus in Dawes County drew an energized overflow crowd and produced a two-for-one majority of supporters of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

About 170 people, or a tenth of the registered Democrats in the heavily Republican northwest Nebraska county, signed in at the event, party officials said.

People began showing up before the 6 p.m. starting time, and some waited in line at the St. Patrick’s Church Parish Hall for nearly half an hour before getting into the small former classroom used for the meeting.

“It’s wonderful, and everyone is in good spirits,” county Party Chairwoman Teresa Hawk said.

“I’m excited,” Bev Bartlett said. “I thought I was one of about six Democrats in the county, and look.”

Many had already decided before arriving and moved quickly to the side of the room for their candidate.

“I understand (Obama’s) principles and ideology,” said Buff Tewahade, a newly naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia. “I agree with his objective of change.”

Bill Richman, who was holding up a sign for Clinton on the other side of the room, said: “It’s time for a change, and she has the experience in government to make that change.”

Those gathered in the middle of the room said they came to learn more about the candidates, which led to impromptu speeches from members of both camps.

“If you want to beat McCain, you have to vote for Hillary,” businessman Bat Pourier said.

“We can’t have any training time,” added his wife, Patty Pourier. “The politics is so strong, you have to have somebody that understands it.”

Countered an Obama supporter: “We are standing on the wave of history. I worked for Kennedy in 1960, and I feel that passion in the room now.”

And the result: 99 for Obama, 49 Clinton.

— George Ledbetter, Chadron Record

In Butler County

Diane Schroeder, co-chair of the Democratic Party in Butler County, said the county had 92 participants in the four caucuses offered throughout the day.

The first started at 8 a.m. and was the first Democratic caucus to be held in Nebraska's history.

The final vote in the county was 47 for Clinton and 45 for Obama.

In Cedar County

In Cedar County, 74 people caucused in a 55-19 vote for Barack Obama, Democrat county chair Julia Kleinschmit Rembert  said.

Kleinschmit Rembert said attendees took turns expressing views.  Clinton supporters emphasized the candidate's compassion, toughness and past work on health care reform; while Obama fans were energized by his message of change, and believed he would be respected as a world leader, she said.

"People don't wear their politics on their sleeve here," Kleinschmit Rembert said. "I heard from several people; it’s great to know how many of us (Democrats) there are."

Kleinschmit Rembert said had the state Democratic Party not organized a caucus, Obama, his wife and Chelsea Clinton would not have been likely to visit Nebraska.



In western Nebraska

Cherry County Democratic Party Chairman Bud Pettigrew said about 100 people from Cherry, Brown and Keya Paha counties showed up at the Catholic church in Valentine to caucus Saturday.

All three counties went for Sen. Barack Obama, he said, with Obama prevailing in Cherry 53 percent to 47 percent, Brown 83 percent to 17 percent and Keya Paha 60 percent to 40 percent.

“I’m a Hillary Clinton person, myself, but I’m happy with the way things went,” Pettigrew said.  “I had no idea what to expect, but I’m happy to see that many Democrats come out in a red state.”

He said people traveled anywhere from more than an hour to a block to attend. Ten people registered to vote onsite, he said. “That’s a lot for here,” he said.

Pettigrew said he heard a lot of older people say they were reluctant to caucus because they did not want to state their preference in public. “They said, ‘It’s embarrassing.’ ... They like secret ballots.”



In Seward County

Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in a 142-121 vote, said Seward County Democratic Party Chair Stephanie Nantkes.

She had expected 22 people.

Nantkes said she was astounded by the civility the crowd showed during the caucus, as they attempted to sway votes their way.

“People gave unbelievable speeches from their hearts,” she said. “I’ve never been more excited about mankind than I was this afternoon. It brought tears to my eyes.”

In Morrill County

David Chikos switched parties from Republican to Democrat to support Helen Boosalis in her campaign for governor of Nebraska in 1986.

Saturday, he presided over a 36-22 vote in favor of Hillary Clinton at the Morrill County Democratic Party caucus.

Though the state Democratic Party provided training for the day’s events, Chikos said they had four absentee ballots they were unsure how to count.

“We had an outline of how to do things, and from there we winged it,” he said.

Chikos said he was pleased with the turnout; typically, Democratic meetings have sparse attendance.

In Scottsbluff County

Unlike many of her counterparts, Scottsbluff County Democrats Chairwoman Carolee Koehn was disappointed with a turnout of 433 at Saturday’s caucus. Participants voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton 230-203.

“The turnout is very hard to predict. From the interest shown, I thought we’d have more turnout that we did,” she said. “We had 787 voters in the 2004 primary. I was shooting for bigger than that.“

Koehn said she thought community events, including basketball games, a farm expo and a ladies day out, may have occupied people who would have otherwise participated.

She said some attendees were worried Clinton was too divisive a political figure to be elected nationally.

“Some of our people were sure Republicans were going to try every ‘swift boat trick’ under the sun in the (general) election,” she said.

In Madison County

In Madison County, Barack Obama decisively beat Hillary Clinton in a 203-111 vote. County Democratic Chairwoman Mary Doyle said the turnout was overwhelming.

“We had a lot of Republicans and independents switching party registration,” she said. “The general comment from people that were switching was dissatisfaction with the direction the Republican Party had taken us with the war and health care.”

Democratic senatorial candidate Tony Raimondo of Columbus spoke at the beginning of the event, followed by about 15 others who spoke in favor of Clinton or Obama. 

Doyle said a few attendees were unhappy about the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. Had she predicted such a large turnout, she would have rented a bigger room, she said.

“Even if we had it at the Taj Mahal some people would have complained,” she said.

Doyle said she is a committed “Obama girl.”

“The vision and hope he offers the party is something no other for candidate can offer,” she said.  “He’s trying to do something for the good of the country.”