Well, despite my grumblings, Super Tuesday didn't decide a clear front-runner in the Democratic race, meaning that I could go caucus this weekend, make my voice heard, and it would matter. Or so I thought.

I figured I didn't want to get to the caucus location too early, because I was going to have to take my almost-three-year-old and keep him entertained. So we left the house about noon, stopped at a McDonalds on the way to the caucus, had lunch, and made sure to get back on the road by 12:40, giving us 20 minutes to drive the last couple of miles, get parked, and sign in.

When I got to the light for Harbour Pointe Blvd. (we were caucusing at Kamiak High School), the backup in the left turn lane was big enough it took two green arrows before I got to make my turn. And by the middle school (there's a series of schools along the road), traffic was already backed up and that was a mile or more down the road from the high school. I tried to park at the elementary school a couple of blocks away, but it was full up, and by the time I got to the high school, traffic was a nightmare, people were flooding toward the high school in all directions on foot, and the traffic coming from the other direction was backed up for hundreds of yards.

Every church and school parking lot I passed was full, cars lined the side streets, by the time it seemed to thin out enough that I was confident I might find a parking space, I was a mile or more past the high school, it was 8 minutes to 1 p.m. (the official start time), and I was going to have to try to hoof it with a three-year-old. The absolute earliest I'd be getting to that door would be 1:15 or 1:20.

The odds of me getting signed in before it was too late were low, and even if I did, I was probably going to have a very annoyed kid to contend with as I navigated through a huge crowd. I weighed the odds against the potential benefit and decided to keep on along Harbour Pointe until it dumped out at the Mukilteo Speedway and just go home.

So, while I was gratified that my state Democratic party's decision not to caucus or vote on or before Super Tuesday didn't make my vote worthless, I was very unhappy that their stupid caucus system made my vote and my wife's vote worthless because they made it so damn hard to vote.

My wife had to work on Saturday and couldn't attend, and surrogates were only allowed in case of religious observance (a Saturday caucus violates the Sabbath), military service, or disability. And I couldn't attend because having my son with me meant a mile plus walk/jog in the cold, wet, Washington weather wasn't an option. If I'd been warned that large crowds would make parking difficult and I should arrive at noon or earlier, the story might have been different, but in the communications I saw from Obama and the party, that warning didn't appear.

What a clusterf*ck. I am so unhappy and disillusioned with the Washington State Democratic Party, I'm seriously re-considering whether I want to continue being a Democrat. A lot of people in service industry jobs, primarily the poor and minorities, often have to work on Saturday, and that excludes them from caucusing. People with small children, the disabled, and the elderly may find it difficult to get out to the caucus.

With a primary, you can show up at a polling place within a 10-12 hour time frame, or you can request an absentee ballot and vote by mail. In some counties, they've gone to an entirely vote-by-mail system. It allows people who want to participate to do so and does not alienate or disenfranchise voters.

Now, my first thought was that this whole process creates an unconstitutional barrier to voting and I should sue. But since this is a vote to choose a candidate and not to elect someone to office, it seems my voting rights are not technically violated by the party's stupid, exclusionary rules. Still it does mean one thing: while I will donate to Obama's campaign as we head into the convention, and I'll donate more to it if he secures the nomination, the party itself will be told to suck my ass if it wants any money. While I like Obama, I'm pretty disillusioned with my state's incarnation of the party he represents.