Editorial: Be sure to attend caucuses tonight

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According to a recent poll conducted on the Daily Globe Web site, turnout for tonight’s Democratic and Republican caucuses won’t be high at all.

That’s too bad.

Precinct caucuses offer a unique opportunity for interested folks to have voices in not only helping choose candidates that will run for public office, but in shaping political party platforms as well. The caucuses are also chances to lay groundwork for further involvement, as DFLers and GOP attendees will choose county convention delegates at tonight’s events.

Nobles County Republicans will have a precinct caucus at 7 p.m. tonight in the Worthington High School cafeteria, while Nobles County Democrats will have their event starting at the same time in the cafeteria at Prairie Elementary. Caucus information for other locations in southwest Minnesota and around the state is available at www.dfl.org and www.mngop.com.

This year is expected to be an intriguing one politically, to say the least. The national political climate is suggesting — and it’s a long way, mind you, to Election Day — it may be a challenging November for Democrats. Will Minnesota be part of that trend? It’s hard to know, but Republican Tim Pawlenty was re-elected in 2006 despite a Democratic surge nationally, and Minnesotans famously elected upstart candidate Jesse Ventura governor in 1998.

Tonight’s caucuses, of course, are the opening stage for all this activity. We encourage everyone to get involved and make their voices heard.

Tags: opinion, editorials, minnesota, caucases, gop, dfl, republicans, democrats