No time for issues at the caucus.

• Author: Adams, Tucker Hart
• Position: The ECONOMIST

Specialization and division of labor is a basic premise of economic theory. Adam Smith, writing in "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776, pointed out:

A workman (working alone) could scarce make one pin a day, and certainly could not make twenty. But, in the way in which this business is now carried on, one man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head, and so on.... In this way, those ten persons could make among them upward of forty-eight thousand pins a day. It's always been one of my favorite economic ideas, for two reasons. First, it provides huge increases in productivity, lowering costs. Henry Ford, early in the last century, applied this concept to the production of the Model T, creating the assembly line and modern manufacturing.

As a result, the automobile is affordable for the average American household today. Second, it's a great excuse for doing the things you enjoy (like economics) and leaving the ones you don't (like politics) to someone else.

Don't misunderstand me. No one is a bigger believer in the U.S. system of representative government than I. But please don't ask me to involve myself in politics beyond voting in every election. I specialize in something else and leave that particular division of labor to others.

That said, when I moved to Colorado back in 1970 and learned about our rather peculiar system of political caucuses, I decided to attend. My caucus was held in a big, lovely home in my relatively upscale middle-class neighborhood, with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres to begin. The dozen or so people there all obviously knew each other, but they were gracious and welcoming to the new kid.

Then it was time to get down to business, which seemed to consist of electing a delegate to the county caucus. There were several contenders, and I suggested we have each one tell us where he stood on the issues before we voted. It got very quiet in the room. The caucus chair stood up, looked me in the eye and said, "Young lady, as long as I run this caucus, issues will never be discussed." I haven't been back to a caucus since.

Fast forward to 2008. The upcoming presidential election is important and controversial, so my husband announced that, despite my...