<residential election quickly approaching, the Carleton Democrats gathered a handful of students to participate in the Democratic Caucus on Feb. 7 at the Northfield Middle School.
At the caucus the students were able to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee, but were limited to Barack Obama or Non-Committed.
“It’s obvious that Obama is going to be elected,” said Justin Perkins ’12, “but it was fun to see the process.”
Though there is little debate about who the Democratic nominee will be, it is required to have a caucus for each election.
While voters were unable to vote for a different candidate, they were able to express how they felt about the president’s performance by voting for Non-Committed.
The caucus also allowed students and other caucus goers to discuss and propose resolutions that can help shape the party’s platform.
“It helps bring the community out and talk about politics,” Perkins said.
According to Erik Anderson ’13, co-president of the Carl Dems, “we have not done as good of a job as we could have in the past couple of years.”
In 2008 the Carleton Democrats were very active with many members, but after the presidential election, “the group kind of fell apart,” Perkins said.
Now that the 2012 race is heating up, the group is starting to hold more activities. Over one hundred students attended the State of the Union screening recently held in the Weitz Cinema.
“We have a real potential at Carleton to make a difference in local politics,” Anderson said. “Northfield as a town is defined by the college, and that starts with the student body.”
All Carleton students who are citizens of the United States and are not active members of another political party were eligible to participate in the Democratic caucuses in their local precinct. In order to vote in Northfield, students must be registered here locally.
The night was filled with political discussions of liberal issues including universal healthcare and the economy.
“It’s just nice to be in a room full of Democrats,” Perkins said of the evening.