First, apologies. I have been a little preoccupied with the Iowa caucuses for the past (well) year. But I slipped a little bit more down the rabbit hole over the last few weeks. I’ve been knocking doors and meeting staffs and going to rallies at a bit more frequent pace as the caucuses approach. And I’m here to tell you. I am one of the most involved people in this campaign season.
And I have no idea what we’re going to do next Monday night.
You heard it here first.
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First things first. Let’s get into the absurdity of the caucus itself.
Caucus Procedure
On Feb 3, people will gathering in gyms and meeting halls all over Iowa to caucus for the Iowa Democratic Party. Several things happen at the caucus, only one of which is to express Presidential Preference. Chairs are named. Party business is addressed. Speeches are given.
The next part is the Presidential Preference voting which happens in two alignments. Candidates get either two chances to form a “viable” group or to form a viable group and gather caucus goers from smaller groups to increase their delegate share.
“Viability” basically means that there must be a certain number of people in the caucus who support a candidate. It’s generally 15% but the percentages change a bit for smaller districts. Viable groups then split up delegates after the second alignment according to their vote share.
And the, after all that, you’re still not done. Because the results need to be ratified by a plurality of people in the caucus for any of the results to be official.
Reporting
Okay, Now that we have done all of that.
Let’s get on to reporting the results from the various rooms. There will be three numbers reported out of the caucuses this year. The first is the number of delegates for each candidate. The other two are the tallies of votes from the beginning and the end of the caucuses.
Steve Kornacki is going to get a LOT of screen time next Monday. Expect it.
There will be mega spinning coming out of Iowa. Plan on it.
The 2020 Caucus Goer’s Decision
The year leading up to next Monday has been eventful to be sure. We’ve had picnics, and Wing Dings, a Liberty Justice Dinner, a Presidential debate, and the Iowa State Fair.
Candidates have marched around this state for a year trying to meet every last Iowan who might maybe could show up at the 2020 caucus. They want our votes. All of them do.
And so they speak to rallies, and clutches, and living rooms as often as they can schedule.
And, yet, there seem to be many caucus goers who haven’t been able to pull the trigger.
And then there’s the people who can’t make the caucus because of work.
I’m guessing that the real wins are going to come during the second alignment phase. Look for the comparison between opening and closing vote tallies to be mentioned a lot on the teevee. When it’s all over and the time has come to choose. And none of us can predict what will happen then.
Last one out, turn off the lights.
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TOP COMMENTS
jsteve7 got a nod for this one on Trump apologists.
from aitchdee:
Herewith, I would like to nominate this witty bit of sarcasm written by dkos poster monamongoose:
The bolding the writer used to very good effect doesn't appear in the pasted version, unfortunately, so do check out its original version at the link above.
from tampaedski:
I nominate Tonibaloney
from Denise Oliver Velez:
Two comments from my diary on Fred Hampton and the First Rainbow Coalition
The first from Charles Day covers the political atmosphere in Chicago 50 years ago
The second from Nardwilly is about a personal connection
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, January 25, 2020, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
Top Pictures for yesterday, January 25, 2020. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!