Turnout Low But Enthusiasm High at Democratic Caucuses

While turnout was low, the enthusiasm for President Barack Obama among Democrats who caucused on Sunday was not.

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Bob Dilg, a new Bellevue resident who had signup sheets for the Obama campaign and was wearing an "Obama 2008" campaign shirt from his former state of Florida, said that the turnout doesn't reflect the enthusiasm of Democrats who want to make sure the president serves a second term after November.

"I can tell you from making phone calls there are a lot more motivated Democrats than came here today," he said.

Unlike the highly contested Washington Republican caucus, in which , Obama is certain to be the Democratic nominee for president.

About 20 people turned out at Enatai Elementary--a far cry from the hundreds of Democrats who caucused in Bellevue in 2008 when the race was fierce between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is now the secretary of state.

Bellevue resident Kathy Surace-Smith, who participated in the Bellevue caucuses in 2008, said that the Republican rhetoric during the primaries that focused on beating the president showed her the importance of making sure that Democrats were heard.

"I felt compelled to come out here given what we experienced and heard during the Republican primaries," said Surace-Smith.

"I think it's important to point out what Obama has achieved," she said. "I feel like the Republican candidate is looking backward and not forward."

Achieving universal health care was an important issue for Democrats interviewed Sunday.

Dilg said while he thought Obama didn't go far enough in making sure that everyone in the U.S. had health care, he said that Obama's compromise in adopting a version of Massachusetts' system--which was approved by Romney when he was governor of that state--is still being challenged by Republicans.

"What he did was accept a proposal that was acceptable to a lot of Republicans at one time," he said.

"Despite all his efforts to work with the other party ... they get on TV and lie about it," he said, citing Sen. Chuck Grassley's citation of "death panels" as something to fear after the Affordable Care Act.

"They care far more about enhancing their own party's power than about the American people," he said.

"Quite frankly, I'm here because my wife told me to get out of the house when I started to scream so much at the TV," Dilg joked.

John Davis, a Bellevue resident who is the chief executive officer of Puget Sound Group, brought his daughter, Morgan, so they could be part of the democratic process.

"I want to make sure that Obama gets another four years and that people with progressive values are elected," he said. He said that it was important for business executives with progressive values to get involved in politics, because so many executives are not shy about getting involved with Republican politics.

"As a CEO, I love Obamacare," he said. "I am a small company and my people need health care, which is not easy to get when you're a small company."

Even though the Democratic nominee was decided well before Sunday's caucus, there was still party business to attend to.

The local Democratic caucuses still were important for being the first step in choosing the delegates who will represent the state in the national convention. The delegates chosen will move on to the King County and state caucuses later this month.