Caucus calm amid the storm of delayed results

I can report, amid the wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding delayed statewide results, that great calm prevailed among Democrats in Johnson Auditorium last night thanks to some pretty darned efficient management. Thanks Jim (county chair) and all the others.

Sanders and Biden tied in the four precincts caucusing there with 10 delegates each, although Biden would have had the edge had he not lost a coin toss in one.

Buttigieg was second with 6 and Klobuchar, third with 5 --- outperforming expectations. Warren had 3, underperforming expectations, Steyer 1 and Yang 1.

Four of Lucas County's seven precincts gathered at the auditorium --- Chariton 1, Chariton 2, Extension and Pin Oak. Lucas-Derby met in Lucas; Williamson and Russell, in Russell.

We started on time (7 p.m.) and voting got under way after a few brief but rousing speeches. It takes courage to get up in front of a couple of hundred people and plug your candidate and all did well. But a prize of some sort should go to the two Yang workers, one from Ohio and the other from Oklahoma, who started work in the county very late and worked very hard. We were headed home not long after 8 p.m.

My precinct, Chariton 1, finished up first I think, thanks to Capt. Kylie Dittmer who with Karoline and Kathleen formed the highly efficient Dittmer trifecta.

So it was a productive evening, I thought, despite statewide results distress. Perhaps we should have just relied on telephones and old-fashioned phone banks --- or recruited an army of 6th graders to manage the ap end of things. We're just going to have to wait a while to analyze the overall results.

Jordan, who has been managing the Buttigieg effort in Lucas and other counties, hopes to be heading home to Texas to work there for Mayor Pete. Emily, Warren organizer, wasn't sure last evening when I visited with her where she'd be headed next. We're going to miss having these terrific young people, and others, around --- but perhaps not the daily mailbox full of campaign literature.