“There were more people at the caucus than I can remember ever having,” stated one active Republican member. Indeed, both Orcas and San Juan Island caucuses were packed, with people asking that the next caucus have a larger area so that people could be heard better.

Local party leaders were encouraged with the increased participation on all the islands, since people seem to be taking issues more seriously. The wonderful thing about caucuses is sitting together and discussing issues, and seeing where our neighbors are on certain subjects and why. If we don’t do that, we leave opinion forming up to the newspapers and other media. The media seem to be in favor of this, loudly calling for primaries in both the local and the Seattle newspapers’ February publications. But if the people want to take back control of this country at the grass roots level, the caucuses are a great place to do that.

A questionnaire was also available at the caucus to see where people stood on various topics. The local questionnaire reflected many interesting trends. Without a doubt, the three top issues among the Republican respondents were controlling government spending, securing our borders, and winning the war against terrorism.