I would like to add this comment. Iowa may have gotten more than its predicted 10 percent participation. That said, I remember many years in WA. State that we were happy to get even five percent caucus participation.
That says it all for me. To have even FIVE percent of a State elect their Democrat or Republican candidate simply sucks.
We have an African American, a Woman, a Preacher, and a former War hero resulting in a some 10 percent caucus turnout... that suggests that some 5 percent elected Obama, Clinton or Edwards and the other 5 percent had a choice between Huckabee and Romney and others.
This is hardly a mandate for Democracy or for Independent choice. This system gives no room for Independents or for real Mavericks. Continue your delusional caucus euphoria but recognize that some 90 percent of voters do not participate in them!
I advocate a return to open primaries ... and those that allow multiple choices, not just for Democrat or Republican but for Independents. Socialists, Libertarians ???. Whatever.
Secateur.
We have an African American, a Woman, a Preacher , a former War hero .result in a some 10 percent turnout.... That suggests that some 5 percent elected Obama, Clinton or Edwards and the other 5 percent had a choice between Huckabee and Romney and others.
Hardly a mamdate for Democracy or for Independant choice. This system gives no room for Independents or for real Mavericks. Continue your delusional caucus euphorea but recognize that some 90 percent of voters do not participate in them!
Return to primaries ... and those that allow multiple choices, not just for Democrat or Republican.
Secateur
BETWEEN THE LINES
Jonathan Alter
Slumber Party
The caucuses are key. That doesn't mean they aren't dull.
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The Iowa Democratic caucuses are a snooze---not the various campaigns for president but the caucuses themselves. I've attended several over the years as a reporter and invariably walk out before they're over. This year, the soporific nature of the process, which can take as long as two hours, will most harm Barack Obama, for reasons I'll explain.
You've read how the caucuses are undemocratic because they disenfranchise people who work at night--how they violate the principle of the secret ballot. But that's just the Democratic caucuses. The Republican caucuses, which date only to 1980, are a breeze. You show up at 7 p.m., you vote almost like in a primary, you go home. If you're on the night shift, it's usually easy enough to take part while on break.
The Democratic caucuses, by contrast, feel like the SATs, where a fussbudget caucus chair, enjoying his or her moment in the sun, explains a mind-numbing series of rules and insists that you obey them if you want your effort to count. The instructions for the caucus chairs run to 72 pages. If you're lucky, the chair won't read any more than 10 of them aloud.
The procedures are so stultifying I'm reluctant to list them here, but to give you a flavor, consider that before moving to various corners of the room with other supporters of the same candidate for the preliminary vote, you must sit through the vote on the permanent caucus chair (self-nominations welcome), official letters from more than a half-dozen Iowa politicians (most chairs are merciful enough to allow these to be distributed), and a lengthy explanation of the delegate-selection process that requires an advanced degree in mathematics to fully understand.
By the time the caucus chair finishes explaining the ramifications of "viability" (the 15 percent necessary for a candidate to receive any share of delegates to the county convention that will select delegates to the state party conventions that will in turn choose the individuals who go to the Democratic Convention in Denver), you're ready to shoot yourself.
Yes, there are brisk caucuses with smart folks running them that restore your faith in this odd tradition. But many of the caucus chairs are well-meaning lawyers and civic activists who have spent a lifetime debating "process." These are the kinds of people who actually enjoy sitting around discussing arcane party rules, and seem oblivious to the pain they might inflict on others. For these Democrats, any level of stupefaction is OK if it's in the name of "fairness" and "community" and "participation." That's big-D Democratic participation. They figure it's their party and they'll bore if they want to.
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