Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

To the editor:

The March 5 Douglas County Democratic Caucus held at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School was an historic event. For the record, 3,541 Democrats were patient enough to remain and be counted two hours after registration closed. To put this in context, the second highest attendance in Kansas that day was 2,008 in Prairie Village, followed by 1,595 in Manhattan. The average caucus attendance among the 49 senate district sites was 805.

Kudos to the Clinton and Sanders campaign leaders for their professionalism in cooperating with official counters committed to a fair vote. Thanks to party members who came forward for training-on-the-fly to create additional laptop registration stations.

The demographic of those newly registered voters shows that many young people are motivated. It brings back fond memories of 2008 when young voters who were early Obama supporters continued to work for his election to the presidency. It is my hope that these Sanders and Clinton supporters will work for whoever becomes the Democratic candidate, and vote.

Absent a realignment of the stars, the likelihood of any Democrat winning the Kansas Electoral College vote is slim. However, if my Sanders and Clinton friends want to make a real difference, they will invest time and energy in changing the Kansas Legislature, which has more influence over our daily lives (and needs a makeover).

This is already an historic election year and I strongly urge everyone to be a part of this history.