Caucus Day, New Brighton Precinct 1

I went to my caucus this evening -- New Brighton Precinct 1, House District 50B. I sat in a classroom at Mounds View High School with about 35 of my neighbors. The work at a caucus is nuts and bolts stuff -- pick the precinct leadership, pick delegates for the BPOU, start the process of selecting delegates for the state convention. And there's a little bit of politicking, too.

Back in 2008, the caucuses were absolutely nuts. There were probably 1,000 people at the caucus that time. This time, there were probably a third that many. The frenzy of 2008 was replaced with a smaller group of citizens, much more low-key, but focused. We heard from a potential candidate willing to take on the incumbent state representative. We batted around a few resolutions for changing the party platform. And we voted in a straw poll for governor.

I haven't written much about the governor's race yet, because I'm still trying to sort out the candidates. There are two frontrunners on the Republican side -- Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert -- and you could make a plausible case for either of them. As it happened, in our precinct Seifert got 18 votes and Emmer received 12, while the other votes were spread among the other candidates.

The sense I get is that the party apparatus is behind Seifert, but the activists support Emmer. It's easy to understand the reasons for this -- Seifert, although not yet 40 years old, has represented his Marshall-area district for over a decade and has paid his dues. Emmer represents the Delano area, which was once a rural area but is now on the edge of suburbia. These are both traditional, but very different, Republican areas. Emmer, who is a dynamic speaker and a forceful advocate for conservative values, is the sort of candidate who hits an activist's fun button. Seifert can be dynamic, but he's not as gifted on the stump. And while appearances shouldn't necessarily matter, Seifert is prematurely balding and looks like an assistant claims adjuster. Conversely, Emmer has what the Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams calls "executive hair" and looks the part.

So how do we sort it out? We don't have to, yet. The conservation began in earnest today, in precincts throughout the state. And there will be a lot more to say. We'll be going to the BPOU on February 27. And by then we should know a lot more.