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Yes, I am going to "caucus" tonight, although I detest using that word as a verb. I prefer "attending my caucus." Actually, I will do more than just attend as I bear the awesome responsibility of being a "Precinct Captain," which means I will be responsible for setting up the building for the evening, coordinating caucus activity in the five precincts in our ward, reporting the results to the state party, as well as convening my own precinct. I prefer the term "Ward Boss" to describe the position, as it has a more powerful connotation to it (no matter how illusory that power actually is).

The weather is expected to be quite mild in the Twin Cities tonight. There's nothing worth watching on television. In other words, you have no excuse not to show up (yes, I'm talking to you Saint Paul).

One of the reasons that people do shy away from the caucuses is that they don't understand the process and what really is involved. For an excellent background summary as well as links to precinct locators, check out the section on Precinct Caucuses at True North. Having attended a number of caucuses over the years (and convened and captained more than a few), I can also offer this simple summary of the evening taken from an e-mail I sent earlier today:

The funs starts at 7pm.

The first order of business is electing precinct officers which is usually pretty painless. Then you elect delegates and alternates to the BPOU (basic political operating unit) convention. That can be painless too depending on how many people show up and how many want to be Ds or As. Then EVERYONE (except observers) gets to vote in the presidential preference ballot.

After that, you go over resolutions for proposed changes/additions to the party platform. This is where the time variable really comes into play. Some years when people have a lot of resolutions and there is a lot of debate about them, this can take an hour, an hour and a half, or even longer all by itself. But if there are few resolutions and little debate, it can go pretty quick.

I would guess that you'd be done anytime between 8pm and 9pm. You could go longer than that, but you could always leave early too.

Doesn't sound too bad does it? It's actually not all that formal either. You show up, register, vote, consider resolutions, and leave. If like me, you're not really into resolutions and you can wait for the results of the presidential preference ballot, you could always bail early too. But it all starts with showing up.

UPDATE: For the best local election coverage be sure to tune in to AM1280 The Patriot tonight at 8pm when King Banaian et al will kick off special Super Tuesday coverage. King has promised to stay on the air until he personally reads every resolution submitted at the GOP caucuses so it may be a very late night indeed.