2008 Woodie Awards
Students should be aware of coming Kansas caucus
Rick Fulton/Guest Columnist
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Politics
I am retired from a federal government job and now live in Pittsburg. My wife and I have a strong attachment to PSU because we both are grads. So, too, is our oldest son. We know that the men and women who attend Pittsburg State are fine people, so what happens on the PSU campus is of strong interest to us.
That is why we are quite concerned about the upcoming Democratic caucus, to be held on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. The Democratic caucus is a two-part process and both parts are equally important. The sad thing is that there are a lot of misunderstandings about the caucus process.
In order to participate in the process, you must be a registered Democrat - but literature from the Kansas Democratic Party says you can register or change your registration status at the door of the caucus site. You must be eligible to vote by Nov. 4, 2008. Once inside the caucus, voters will break into groups supporting each candidate. Then the number of delegates for each candidate is determined and the results are sent to KDP headquarters in Topeka.
The groups then elect delegates to represent their candidates at the Congressional District Convention on April 12. That is the meeting to determine representatives of candidates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
The Kansas Democratic State Committee wrote the delegate selection plan. Caucuses are to be held across the state, one caucus to be held in each of the Kansas State Senate districts.
Pittsburg and the PSU campus are in the 13th District. The caucus for this district will be at the Franklin Community Center, 701 South Broadway, in Franklin. The best way to get there is to go north from Pittsburg up Hwy. 69 to the intersection of the highway leading to Girard. Franklin is the unincorporated community just to the northeast of that intersection, and just south of Arma. It is, perhaps, a 10-mile drive from the campus.
No one is happy with the location. Those of us who support Hillary Clinton believe that the state party headquarters should have found a caucus location a lot closer to where people live in Crawford County. But the Kansas Democratic Party has spoken, and now is not the time to complain, but instead to get out to the caucus, to be in line by 7 p.m. at the Franklin Community Center in order to participate and to stand up for the Democratic Party presidential candidate you support.
That is why we are quite concerned about the upcoming Democratic caucus, to be held on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. The Democratic caucus is a two-part process and both parts are equally important. The sad thing is that there are a lot of misunderstandings about the caucus process.
In order to participate in the process, you must be a registered Democrat - but literature from the Kansas Democratic Party says you can register or change your registration status at the door of the caucus site. You must be eligible to vote by Nov. 4, 2008. Once inside the caucus, voters will break into groups supporting each candidate. Then the number of delegates for each candidate is determined and the results are sent to KDP headquarters in Topeka.
The groups then elect delegates to represent their candidates at the Congressional District Convention on April 12. That is the meeting to determine representatives of candidates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
The Kansas Democratic State Committee wrote the delegate selection plan. Caucuses are to be held across the state, one caucus to be held in each of the Kansas State Senate districts.
Pittsburg and the PSU campus are in the 13th District. The caucus for this district will be at the Franklin Community Center, 701 South Broadway, in Franklin. The best way to get there is to go north from Pittsburg up Hwy. 69 to the intersection of the highway leading to Girard. Franklin is the unincorporated community just to the northeast of that intersection, and just south of Arma. It is, perhaps, a 10-mile drive from the campus.
No one is happy with the location. Those of us who support Hillary Clinton believe that the state party headquarters should have found a caucus location a lot closer to where people live in Crawford County. But the Kansas Democratic Party has spoken, and now is not the time to complain, but instead to get out to the caucus, to be in line by 7 p.m. at the Franklin Community Center in order to participate and to stand up for the Democratic Party presidential candidate you support.
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