And here's why:

So how did I chose Obama as my candidate for president? I'm a little ashamed to tell you the story, but only just a little.

It was a cold night, the night of the caucus, and the place was absolutely packed. And I went in early! I couldn't find anything that resembled close parking and wound up parking about a million miles away.

Now, I'm not a young woman, and I have my share of arthritis. That day, my back was hurting, and my knees were acting up, so walking a million miles in the cold wasn't exactly a good idea, but I figured I'd be able to sit down once I got inside.

Only once I got inside, it was so crowded that Standing Room Only had been retired a few hours back and Breathing Room had just taken up residence. And wouldn'tcha know, my district's table was about 40 feet away from the steps that lead up to the stairs so I couldn't even sit on those. Sitting on the floor was out of the question, unless I wanted to be trampled.

So I tried to tough it out. About an hour after things were supposed to get started, we lost Breathing Room and were just Packed Like Sardines in the school's gymnasium.

Now remember, until this year, caucuses were never really taken all that seriously during an election year. In a society where more often than not you hear people saying they don't vote because "what difference does it make?" we caucusers were lucky to see 27 people show up for the entire county. Obama and Clinton changed that a bit. My district alone had 100% turnout and there were more than 27 people at our dingy lil table.

I finally gave up and challenged a few people for a seat on the steps.

To make a long story short, and to get to the point (finally), my district finally found a little out of the way corner in a dark hallway to do our little debates and decide on a little candidate. By the time we got there, I was so tired, and my body was so aching, that I just sorta oooozed onto the floor and stayed put.

When I arrived that night, I had been thinking Clinton was going to be my candidate, but the captain decided that Clinton-ers should be on the left side of the hall, while Obama-ites should be on the right.

Guess which side of the hall way Mari was sitting on.

So there ya have it folks. So much for careful consideration of all potential candidates to decide who'd be the best. I just happened to be on the Obama side of the room.

*Cymbal crash!*