Caucusing Matters!

On Tuesday night, Minnesotans across the state will be meeting in schools, libraries, businesses and even homes to caucus for who they think should be the next president of the United States. In the past few days, four presidential candidates have crisscrossed the state, bringing additional attention to this important event. But telling your neighbors who you think should be president is not the only thing that will be happening.

Party loyalists and political newcomers will engage in grassroots activism in an attempt to shape the future of their party and ultimately, politics at the local state and national levels. Resolutions will be discussed, debated and voted upon. These resolutions will help shape and change the party platform. Precinct captains will be elected, as well as delegates and alternates who will eventually have a say in who their party's nominees will be. Needless to say, politics is driven by those who show up and make the decisions, so now is a great opportunity to get involved and help make those decisions! It is not as hard as you may think. 

Depending on your views on the issues, the first thing to do is decide which party you want to caucus for. Patch has provided links for several political parties here:  As a social studies teacher, I would encourage all residents to come and participate. But before you make a decision on which party to caucus for, I encourage you to do your homework and figure out which party best aligns with your views. The more informed you can make yourself on candidates from multiple parties, the easier it will be to choose which party to caucus for. No one party is better than another, although many within those parties will tell you differently. Remember, we all want to do what we think is best for the people in our cities, state and the nation. We all have different perspectives and our personal experiences and histories have helped to shape those viewpoints. That is the beautiful part!

So who can participate? As long as you will be 18 by November 6, 2012, and live in the precinct of the caucus you are attending, you can fully participate in the caucus. If you do not meet that criteria, you are still welcome to come as a guest and watch and learn how the process works.

If you are interested in caucusing with the Republican Party, feel free to join me at Simley High School on Tuesday night. We will be kicking off the events at 6:30pm and will be breaking out into our precincts at 7:00pm for the Presidential Preference Poll, election of precinct chairs, delegates/alternates and voting on resolutions. We will also be conducting a U.S. Senate Preference Poll, which features candidates Joe Arwood, Anthony Hernandez, Dan Severson, and Harold Shudlick.

If you would like to join the HD39B Republicans on caucus night, here are a couple more helpful links for you can use to get ready for Tuesday:
http://pf.mngop.com/
http://hd39b.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hd39b-Republicans/149296031803742
https://twitter.com/#!/Hd39b

Mark J. Westpfahl
Chair, HD39B Republicans
chair@hd39b.com