Today was election day and a primary election. Far too many people, in my opinion, are unaware of or do not participate in the system of caucuses (cauci?) and conventions that begin at the precinct level on primary election nights and go on to determine the policies that make up the platforms of our political parties (not to mention the make-up of that whole crazy electoral college when it's a presidential election). I have yet to attend a precinct caucus that was attended by as many people as there were county delegation slots to fill. I found out about them in college and have tried to participate as much as possible since...these days, that is not much. I was very active in the local party in college, serving on the county party's platform committee and even went to the state convention once, but my responsibilities in recent years have been a bit too overwhelming for that level of participation. I try always to go the precinct caucus and I get to as many county conventions as I can manage, depending on the ages of the kids (so no county convention this year).
Tonight, as usual, I dragged the whole family to our precinct caucus right after the polls closed. Four adults showed up, including Lone Star Pa and I (the Lone Star Girl did try to put her two cents worth in on the votes as she is incensed that children like herself are taxed but not represented)...the precinct was supposed to elect 12 delegates and 12 alternates to the county convention so you can see what I mean about low participation. We elected a chair and I got elected secretary so I wrote everything down on our form. This was a little hard as my darling, charming daughters seemed intent upon seeking danger and mayhem in the lobby of the convent school in which the poll was located (prompting later lectures on democracy from me - it all starts right here, girls! America! - which got the Lone Star Baby singing America the Beautiful again ).
The precinct caucus is the first place that resolutions get voted on. If passed, those resolutions go on to the county convention and so on...so that they can eventually make their way into the National Party Platform and affect what a party's candidates stand for and support. I am all about a good platform. I submitted the below resolution tonight and it passed our precinct. I submitted it during the last primary, too, but - like this year - I was not then able to attend the county convention so I never knew how far it went, but I haven't found much of it in the National Platform yet. I'll keep trying.
Because we value the work of caregivers and know that the nation cannot be productive without them, and…
Because we know that for too long the productivity of our nation has rested on the backs of the unpaid caregivers, mainly women, who care for children and the aging and family members with disabilities to their own considerable expense…
And because children and other vulnerable members of our society deserve high quality care that does not compromise the security or future of their caregivers…
We therefore resolve to embrace a policy of valuing caregiving as equal to other forms of work in this nation and supporting it through the following reforms:
1. Adding unpaid household labor to the Gross Domestic Product,
2. Equalizing Social Security credits for spouses,
3. Offering work-related social insurance programs for all workers, whether they work in the workforce or as unpaid caregivers,
4. Providing child allowances for all families so that children are adequately supported
5. Providing free health coverage for all children and their primary caregivers
6. Making high-quality, government subsidized daycare, available to all families.
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