It’s not quite Paris, but satellite caucus at Cedar Rapids library draws a slightly bigger crowd

CEDAR RAPIDS - A young man carrying an electric guitar wandered into the Cedar Rapids Public Library's Whipple Auditorium Monday afternoon and asked what was happening there.

An Iowa Democratic Party satellite presidential caucus, he was told. He quickly turned around and left. The event, with two dozen people gathered in big room, didn't need a musician.

Like Iowans at 98 other sites around the state, nation, and world, the people here got the jump on everyone who caucused in Iowa Monday night. Seventeen voters attended the satellite in Paris, so the Cedar Rapids library won that numbers game.

CAUCUS RESULTS: Democratic caucus results | Republican caucus results

Although, those in Paris went out afterward into ... Paris. Those who left the library were confronted with snow-covered Greene Square. There are different kinds of winning.

The process at the library took an hour, and most of that time was spent making sure preregistered participant Daniel K. Cosman of Cedar Rapids was preregistered. He was.

The math part was easier. There were enough supporters of Bernie Sanders to send two delegates to March's county convention, with one each for Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.

Shanel Slater was the only person there whose candidate didn't have enough support for a county delegate. She came on behalf of Andrew Yang, then realigned with the Warren people.

'I just agreed with (Yang) on most of the issues,” Slater said. 'I went in knowing I would have Warren as my second choice.”

She was able to caucus only because of the satellite.

'I have two jobs,” Slater said. 'I work 3 to 9 tonight. I worked from 8 to noon this morning in Iowa City.”

The satellites were primarily in Iowa, but also included three at foreign sites and 23 in other U.S. states and Washington, D.C. They were designed to make the caucuses more accessible.

Nancy Paul of Cedar Rapids said it was suggested to her to attend the library satellite because 'I have trouble getting about and I don't like to drive at night.”

Cosman's participation was a bit of a boondoggle from the start. He thought he originally registered for an evening caucus, but instead did so for a satellite. So he showed up and patiently waited with everyone else for the verification that he indeed could engage in the that caucus.

'It's worth it, it's worth it,” said Sanders-supporter Cosman said of the delay.

'I keep reading no over-65s are for Bernie. I've lived through a lot and I'm tired of it all. I'm hoping of a chance of right versus left this election. We're due to have that battle out in the open. It's not for something you think you maybe believe in, but for something that you actually do.

'If people call me a socialist, I guess you can call me a socialist at 67. Frankly, I'm not a socialist. I'm an American.”

His vote was counted. Whether the guitarist was going to take part in the electoral process Monday evening was anyone's guess.

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