Tomorrow, while the rest of us kick around in flip-flops drinking sunshiny cans of beer and playing on the slip and slide, a dedicated few will meet to determine what happens next in Washington’s contribution to the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. We checked in with two Capitol Hill residents hoping to make it through the next round of the process at tomorrow’s congressional district caucus. First, from the Obama side of the fence, Molly Strong.

CHS: You’re a candidate to be a Washington state delegate from Capitol Hill’s district at the national convention. Briefly (18 words or less, please), tell us how the process works and how you are planning to conquer your rivals.
Molly: In 18 words or fewer, I doubt I can explain how the process works and why I think I deserve to go to the convention but here goes!

Precinct caucuses elect delegates to represent their constituents at the legislative, congressional, state, and national level. I road in a double decker English bus down to Oregon to register voters there– Need I say more?

(I guess I can’t, since that was more than 18 words. Sorry. I was an English major, and even I can’t boil down this complicated process/ self-praise to fewer than 18 words. But I’m not planning on “conquering” my rivals- just charming them.)

CHS: What’s with the whole male/female delegate thing? How does that work on Capitol Hill?
Molly: Like any good democratic process, the delegate process seeks to represent the population fairly. That means that we want to have a good number of LGBT, minorities, young people, women, etc. etc. in order to represent the diversity of our community. When I vote tomorrow for the delegates who will continue onto the national convention, I have to vote for a certain number of men and a certain number of women in order to proportionally represent the 7th congressional district.

CHS: We found out about you through Wet Paint and the obamadelegates.org wiki. Are there resources there Capitol Hill citizens should know about?
Molly: Two great resources: if you email [email protected], you can be added to the mailist from the 43rd district leadership team, who are responsible for setting up a lot of the get out the vote and Obama fundraising activies here in Capital Hill. It’s a really fun group of people, and I’ve loved getting to know them over the past few months.

Mybarackobama.com is another great resource. People can set up events on there, and you can find lots of fun things to attend on Capital Hill. Just last week there was a bowling for Obama party (ironic considering his score…) at The Garage that was organized through mybarackobama.com.

Lastly, the Washington State voter registration site is great. You can register to vote online.

CHS: We’re the we’ll vote for anybody younger than 72 kind of people. Basically, we don’t really care if it’s Obama or Clinton. But we meet a lot of people on Capitol Hill who do and we would like to be able to spot them in advance so we can not say things that set them off on 30-minute diatribes because, like we said, we don’t care as long as it’s a Dem. So, how can we spot a Capitol Hill Obama person by sight?
Molly: Well, I suspect anyone wearing Obama buttons is pro-Obama. In fact, I’d be willing to say that there are a lot of people on Capital Hill who support Obama, and you may not be able to identify them by swag…

CHS: Are there bars or coffeeshops where you might be more likely to find these people?
Molly: We’ve had a couple of Obama button-making “parties” at Vivace on Denny. I say “parties” in quotes because there was no booze involved, only excessive amounts of coffee. We all looked a bit like elves in Santa’s workshop with those button making machines. There were quite a few patrons who wanted buttons, so it’s definitely an Obama-friendly crowd there. Avoid it if you are pro-Clinton, I suppose. Also, I was at Coastal Kitchen splitting a sundae with a friend, and I saw a large crowd of people come in wearing Obama shirts.

CHS: Ok, here’s your last chance. Tell us why Obama is the best candidate for — specifically — Capitol Hill.
Molly: Obama represents a clear break from the Republican party because he’s always been against the war, an issue that is of paramount importance to young people because it’s our generation that is over in Iraq.

His education policies are also great for young people; upon qualifiying, young people can receive $4,000 yearly for college, and in return they’d have to log a certain number of hours doing community service. There are a lot of us young people on Capital Hill who would benefit, not to mention the non-profits that would benefit from the influx of volunteers.

He doesn’t accept money from lobbyists, who’ve dominated politics for too long. Millions of people have donated to his campaign, and we are the ones to whom he’ll be held accountable.
I also think you can tell a lot about a candidate by how she/he has run his/her campaign. His campaign has by far been the most organized, utilizing the internet to organize a grassroots movement. And he has spent and raised his money wisely.

Lastly, more than any other candidate, Obama has inspired people in their 20s and 30s to get involved in politics. It would be great for our country if my generation starting holding our government accountable by voting and showing interest and paying attention.

CHS: Thanks Molly. Neighbors can check out Molly’s delegate page to learn more about her and the local effort around the Obama campaign.