{"id":41592,"date":"2014-02-04T12:12:01","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T18:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=41592"},"modified":"2014-02-04T12:16:06","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T18:16:06","slug":"caucasus-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=41592","title":{"rendered":"Caucasus Tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Caucasus night throughout Minnesota tonight.<\/p>\n

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Mount Ushbra, Georgia<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout the state, people will be joining their favorite tribe, dancing traditional their traditional folk dances, getting drunk on fermented goat milk, arranging marriages, and firing guns randomly into the air.<\/p>\n

At the end of the evening, all the tribes will declare war on each other, duke it out, and adjourn til next year.<\/p>\n

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A Caucasus event in Chaska, 1994.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hope to see you there.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: \u00a0Ooops. \u00a0My bad. \u00a0Tonight is Caucus<\/em>\u00a0night. \u00a0Not Caucasus night. \u00a0I regret the error.<\/p>\n

Tonight’s the night the the four major parties in Minnesota (the GOP, the Independence, and the DFL\/Take Action Minnesota) pick the delegates that will lead to the endorsements to run for the major offices – Governor, Senate, and the various Congressional and State Legislative seats. \u00a0If you don’t like the way your party is working, tonight’s the night to try to do something about it.<\/p>\n

I’ve never been to a DFL caucus, but I know Republican caucuses are usually not a huge time investment, especially if you duck out before the endless debates over the meaningless resolutions. Which I usually do.<\/p>\n

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DFL and Take Action Minnesota canvassers at caucus night, South Minneapolis, 2012.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’re new to caucuses, here’s the deal: \u00a0the point is not <\/em>to write resolutions about issues that matter to you. \u00a0It’s to get people who support your candidates for the various offices – Governor, Senate, Congress, the Legislature – elected as delegates to the various rounds of conventions.<\/p>\n