March 07, 2020
On March 7, the students had the opportunity to observe either a Democratic or Republican caucus. The Democratic caucus took place at 2:00 p.m. at Fox Meadow middle school. In total, around 30 people participated in 12 precincts. The students’ objective was to observe a fundamental process of the American democracy: citizens gathering to choose their candidate for Senate. Upon arrival, students met with one of the site managers. She talked about the rules of the caucus, the two ways to get onto the June ballot and gave us a short introduction to the five candidates running for Senate, among them former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and former speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff. Overall, the students had a great experience and indeed enjoyed observing one of America’s oldest forms of democracy. -Philipp W. ‘22
The Republican Caucus began at 10:00 a.m. Here, we learned about how the caucus process works from one of the caucus organizers, and we got the unique opportunity to hear from a former citizen of the USSR about her experiences in the U.S. We asked deep questions about the caucus process and our hosts’ political observations. We also witnessed a reduced version of the caucusing process with only three people. The incumbent candidate for Senator was Cory Gardner. All participants enjoyed the opportunity to hear from the speakers, and we learned a lot about caucuses and some Republican policy. -Nathan G. ‘23
