Caucus Love?

A lot happened at the Minnesota caucuses on Tuesday: a high turnout, wins for Sen. Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney, and... love connections? One unanticipated consequence of the caucus system compared to the primary system is that people spend time together at the caucus events, and some even find love.

Craigslist.org has a handy tool designed to pick up where the flirting left off: missed connections. Users post a description of someone they found interesting, attractive or both, and hope that the other person sees the description and responds.

The "missed connections" sections suggests that caucuses are better at making dates than primaries. Both Minneapolis and Denver saw numerous post-caucus missed connections, from suburbanites to gay Republicans, while cities of equal or larger population such as Chicago and Atlanta saw no primary missed connections. That nonscientific survey proves that the caucus system is not only a vital part of our democracy, but also an important dating tool. DFL chair Brian Melendez should think twice about switching our system to a primary.

In the interest of helping political love blossom, here are few posts from Minneapolis' "missed connections" section. Perhaps someone is looking for you?

Franken organizers do it better? They must in Senate District 64B, Precinct 3-16! A male supporter of Senate candidate Mike Ciresi found an organizer for rival candidate Al Franken worth chatting with again. He also felt bad for leaving early.

An Eden Prairie caucus goer was probably really, really pretty. A 22-year-old man wrote: "i saw you and i thought you were maybe probably the prettiest girl i'd ever seen. you looked back for a half second and confirmed that yes, you are probably the prettiest girl i've ever seen." Unfortunately, the girl was headed to a different precinct and the brief romance ended. "you sauntered into the precinct 5 caucus and out of my life probably forever." He wants to make sure she knows that he thinks she's pretty. "prettiest girl i've ever seen. really really really."

Two gay Republicans on Nicollet Island: what are the odds? A 25-year-old Mitt Romney man and a Ron Paul man met and debated the merits of their respective candidate at the Republican caucus. The Romney man wants more than debate, however. He told the Paul man, "I think you're a cool and good looking guy, hope to hear back from you."

White Bear Lake Township knows its fashion. A man saw a woman with a "pink and beige plaid scarf, black jacket, dark jeans, and very stylish black shoes with black socks to boot." He was the tall guy in the white sweater and "couldn't stop making eye contact with" her. He never got the nerve to go talk to her, though.