The precinct caucus chair, Elaine, a school teacher, is reading aloud a letter from the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. Everyone applauses the line, "This evening we take the first step in electing a Democratic president of the United States." But now she's droning on about the new caucus reporting system and the Democratic majority in the state legislature. Yawn. They should really make this process as painless as possible for everybody. Now an envelope is passed around to collect donations for the Iowa Democratic Party. Some people are buzzing. They weren't expecting to be asked to pay anything. And this process is conducted entirely in English with no translations available. A sad moment: Two Latina women rush in a few minutes late, the younger one schlepping a small baby. Elaine tells them it's after 7, and they may have to go. I hope they get to stay. What a ridiculous process. These women obviously want to be here and are ready to participate. --Dana Goldstein
