Okay, here is some live (and therefore sloppy) reporting on what is happening.

Mr. Skip Orr speaks for John Kerry; a lifelong Democrat, he nonetheless served in the Reagan administration, and tells that the Bush administration, particularly what he calls the “Bush cabal” are strong neo-conservatives, way farther right than Reagan and his people ever were. He spoke of a nightmare–January 2005 and Bush is at the Rotunda, with his trademark smirk, taking the oath. Unfortunately, probably because he was trying to save time, he didn’t say too much, didn’t speak too long.

The rep for Wesley Clark, Sven Serrano, has stepped up and presented three quick video commercials, and made a very good presentation. As might be expected, everyone is wowed by Clark’s credentials. But with his low numbers in recent primaries and caucuses, there are probably a lot of people who would like to cote for him but won’t. (He later got 11 of the 140 votes cast.)

Bob Scheele came to represent John Edwards. He gave a pretty straightforward campaign stump speech, fairly much in line with the basic Democratic party lines, as with everyone else. But like Clark, behind Kerry in the voting so far, probably a lot of people are wishing he weren’t quite so vocal against taking a vice-presidential spot should he eventually drop out.

The Dean people are a very strong presence here. Lauren Shannon (of Fujimama’s) gave the presentation, with a nice TV spot and a good letter from Dean. She spoke about the Dean people from Japan and all over who came to Iowa to help with the Dean campaign. And of course, there was the inevitable mention of Dean as the outsider, and particularly as the one who protested and stood up against Bush first, and got this whole ball of wax rolling as it has. The Dean people are indeed committed, a lot of fire in their bellies, but the Dean campaign is lagging after not having won a single state yet, and with Dean so far behind in Wisconsin, which he has pretty much tagged now as a do-or-die state. But this is really a Dean stronghold here, and a lot of votes are going to Dean. (Dean later got the most votes, though because this is a caucus, he got one of three delegates.)

Wayne Parton speaks for Dennis Kucinich, although he was not the official representative–so he read from a script. Told the story of Kucinich, which was impressive enough. Youngest mayor of Cleveland, college instructor, and Congressman from Ohio, replacing the Republican incumbent. Also fought against the “Enron-like” takeover of Cleveland’s power system. He also spoke well on how Kucinich voted against the Patriot Act, against the war in Iraq–and spoke honestly about his chances, but pointed out rightly that Clinton was way down in January, and that getting to the convention and contributing to the party plank is important. This “unofficial” rep spoke on and on, but he said great things–and was eventually shouted off the podium for time.

John McCreery has given us a reminder that the important thing is not just electing a president, but that getting twelve representatives, two senators, and one president–and even then, it is just the beginning.

The official count is in–156 people are here today, more than tripling past turnouts, and everyone is energized.

The straw poll is now being counted, and the figures coming in soon.

There was also discussion of how Americans abroad can vote–and according to Mr. McCreery, we should be able to vote for President, Vice President, and for members of Congress. The laws and regulations are laid out at www.fvap.gov.

Brent has the figures, I think, and is ready to announce the count: instant gratification–from the least: Al Sharpton got 1 vote; Wesley Clark with 11 votes; Uncommitted with 12 votes; Edwards with 15; Mr. Kucinich with 18; Kerry got 43; and Howard Dean came out with 52. Only groups with at least 15% of the straw poll can get candidates–you need 23%. However, another relevant rule is that we only get to elect three delegates to Scotland, so that three groups only can elect delegates. In the case of more than three viable groups, the three largest groups get the delegates. So there will be some horse trading as groups get together and talk about how votes get assigned and swapped and bartered and so forth.

More as it comes in. And I’ll clean this up later.