Ultimately, they made their choice at that precinct, with 101 voters supporting Obama, and 62 supporting Clinton.
Despite some difficulties, voters remained energized and excited to be participating in the caucus process.
Temple attorney Scott Sinsabaugh, who doesn’t normally vote Democrat, said he would support Obama because his ideas and his brand of politics were fresher than anyone else’s.
“I never usually like anybody, really,” he said. “I’ve voted Republican and Libertarian in the past.”
Sinsabaugh said even though Clinton is politically experienced, it is not enough to swing his vote.
“Politicians are politicians, but I honestly believe Barack wants to change the process,” Sinsabaugh said.
Manuel Arispe, a life-long Democrat, voted early, but came to the caucus on his 74th birthday to support Hillary Clinton.
“I want to do whatever I can to endorse the person I voted for,” he said.
Arispe said he supported Clinton because she is experienced and tough, and believes Obama is not prepared for such a high office.
“He said the troops are coming out of Iraq. Nothing would please me more than that, but that is reckless,” Arispe said. “We should never have gone there in the first place. There are too many innocent young men who are dying there.”
Although a Democrat, Arispe said if Clinton opts to bow out, or loses the nomination, that he’d support John McCain in November.
“John McCain can take the heat. He took it in Vietnam,” Arispe said. “I may not agree with some of his policies, but he’s definitely not as bad as President Bush.”
Myra Ritter, also a Clinton supporter, said she too would support McCain should Obama win the nomination.
However, Odis Ervin, said he’d support Obama if Clinton fails to gain the nomination because he is a life-long Democrat.
“I was born one, raised one and will probably die one,” he said.
Although the votes for both candidates came fairly quickly, there were a host of difficulties that preceded that official count, and it all began shortly after the polls closed.
With nearly 200 voters standing in line hoping to participate in the caucus, the precinct began to run out of signup sheets, which could affect the official delegate count for Clinton and Obama.
Only minutes after the polls officially closed, Democratic staffers began announcing that signup sheets for caucus participation were gone, which resulted in those voters signing in on sheets of notebook paper.
This becomes problematic because copies of those signatures have to be forwarded to the county and the state to allow interested voters to participate in the county convention on March 29, and possibly the state convention in June.
Kim Lanham Kindred, who described herself as an active participant in Democratic politics, advised staffers to make enough copies of the notebook sheets that delegate voters signed to send to the county and the state, to avoid any confusion or impropriety.
“One copy has to stay with the precinct, two have to go to the county and one goes to the state,” she said. “One piece is not going to cut it. If you don’t want this challenged at the county convention, then that would be the legitimate thing to do.”
Wayne Backus, who was elected by the nearly 170 voters participating in the caucus at the Mayborn Center to serve as the convention chair, certified the signatures and advised the voters that the appropriate copies would be made.
Once the signatures were certified and the votes were counted for the caucus, supporters for both candidates chose delegates who will represent their vote at the state convention.
