When we will hear the results? I assume sometime tonight. Hopefully before I go to bed.
I'm not planning to stay up. They're an hour behind us, and who even knows how long this takes.
In theory they should probably be done by around 9pm central time. IIRC, I was home earlier than that in 2016. But if there is crazy turnout, who knows. It takes a long time to count a bunch of people standing around in a school gym, lol.
When I caucused in 2016 Bernie supporters were at my site and outnumbed us Hillary supporters probably 4:1. But I lived in a university town and obviously my experience did not predict the eventual nominee!
It's also worth mentioning - this is how it is supposed to work. It doesn't always work that way. When I caucused in 2016, we basically all just stood in a gym in groups and then went home. There were no speeches or realignment. IDK if this was because we were so obviously outnumbered by Bernie supporters, or what. But I have no idea what someone who is undecided would have done - there was nothing that happened that would have done anything to change their mind, unless they happened to have a 1 on 1 conversation with someone while standing in line. I found the whole thing confusing and frustrating. It was a big waste of time to stand in line for an hour to stand in a gym for another hour and then leave. If I had voted by ballot the whole thing would have likely taken me 20 minutes or less.
I went to a Republican caucus in 2012 (just because it was my first primary in Iowa and I wasn't completely sure where I'd be 4 years later and I wanted to see for myself what caucusing was all about) and it was more similar to the cat thing, but they just had us all sit in chairs and listen to a representative speak, then we all wrote down our choice on a slip of paper and passed it to the left to be collected. Super secure! So there was some level of debate/convincing but no moving around the room.
Basically, one of the huge issues with this process (IMO) is that there is no standardization. Each place is going to do it slightly differently and there is no oversight (that I'm aware of) to ensure that it's done correctly.
Caucusing sounds awful. Being around so many people and having to spend hours of a Monday evening just to vote?!?! Why?!? I don't like people enough to cram into a high school with them. No thank you. LOL.
It seems a terrible way to disenfranchise people. Have they ever compared turnout with Iowa and other states that have open primaries and what not?
I'm in VA which is open primary. We just show up and pick a ballot (if there is a choice), and vote. Easy peasy.
I heard yesterday that even in a great turnout year we get like 20%.
It's dumb as shit and every time I think about it I get madder and madder. I'm not a native Iowan, but I've been here long enough to caucus in 2008 and 2016, both in the same place. The first time it seemed fun enough, there were a few short speeches and some re-aligning, but the second time I had more responsibilities and was more aware of issues and it just made me cranky. There were a lot of old people that were bussed over from the retirement home in district, but the rest were VERY young, and VERY white, in an area that shouldn't be that strongly either.
Beyond disenfranchisement, having your vote be public is not ok. There's definitely social and spousal pressure for some people to vote a certain way, and I don't want to go there to vote and have people try to persuade me to make a different choice. Fuck that.
@@ We took my kids last time (at 4 and 6yo) and will again. We talked to one of my kids school friends' parents- she was caucusing for Bernie, and her Hillary husband was staying home with the kids :-p This year we'll load up on the devices, snacks, and books and hope not to be there way too late.
Watching this live makes it more apparent what an unfair process this is. These places look kind of empty. Will results wait until people who work get there?
So for example, in queen creek Arizona it is 4:45pm (MT). And they’re already counting and announcing viable candidates. But..... obviously people who work 9-5 aren’t there. So what happens if a candidate is not viable in the first round, but then more supporters show up later while they are in the second rounds. Wouldn’t the people who had to be convinced to pick another candidate want to regroup again with their original candidate since they now are viable?
I'm so glad we don't caucus here. This seems outrageous and also excluding of people with jobs, school, other obligations, etc. I can't imagine only being able to vote, essentially, at one specific time on one day. Here in IL we have 6 whole weeks to vote with early voting and mail-in voting, plus obviously Election Day. I always go vote on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon a few weeks before. It's amazing. I wish all states had this.
Someone had mentioned the amount of volunteers in IA. I'm in an IL for Warren FB group and I know a TON of volunteers have been driving over the border to help out in IA over the past few weeks. I've been invited to carpool with them and door knock, as well as attend her rallies, but it's just a lot of time commitment (most people are going for entire weekends, sometimes even going into Monday). I am happy to help out with door knocking and texting locally, though.
Maybe that poll not coming out was a good thing. It makes the caucus even more suspenseful! Even though it’s such a mess from my point of view, I’m sitting on the edge of my seat!
Post by Velar Fricative on Feb 3, 2020 20:25:33 GMT -5
Either I’ve never watched live footage of a caucus or I just forgot but this is insane. Nobody better bring caucuses to NY please.
I decided to stick with MSNBC for coverage and so far Klobuchar is getting pretty solid support somewhere in Des Moines. I am also watching the NYT’s needle of death.
Caucusing seems like such an anachronism today. Like I can totally see how it was probably pretty close to what was done in, say, 1775. A bunch of wealthy, white men, in a barn, drinking ale and discussing politics. Not like that had anywhere better to be.
Post by Velar Fricative on Feb 3, 2020 20:47:16 GMT -5
Damn that Warren supporter was so ready to get in TV. But I was nodding along when she said she’s not wooing people because no one is actually undecided.
NBC posted Trump as the projected winner of the Iowa caucus and just seeing that graphic with the check mark triggered me and brought back that feeling of dread from 2016. I don’t think I will be able to watch any of the Election Night coverage in November.
Can someone tell me how many caucus locations there are? I’m surprised that gymnasiums and bigger venues aren’t packed.
Is this the same as polling locations based on your address?
Yes it's like a precinct from my memory. My parents go to a local church and it is their whole north end of town. When I did it I lived on campus so my location was the student Union. It was 90% students and 10% professors who lived near campus, so a fairly big area.
Post by Velar Fricative on Feb 3, 2020 21:05:21 GMT -5
Well one nice thing about this caucus is that I’m pleasantly surprised seeing old white people being democrats. I shouldn’t be so surprised but Facebook comments made me feel otherwise.
Well one nice thing about this caucus is that I’m pleasantly surprised seeing old white people being democrats. I shouldn’t be so surprised but Facebook comments made me feel otherwise.
Im not watching coverage but every time I see a photo I’m shocked all over again by how white everyone is. Holy shit Iowa.
they just showed the non viable groups move to the undecided section. because that somehow allows them to get a delegate for their candidate (if the undecided group meets the threshold themselves?), instead of having to move to either Bernie or Warren.
crazy! I'm so intrigued by this strategy stuff. still think caucuses shouldn't exist, but its fascinating.
Can someone tell me how many caucus locations there are? I’m surprised that gymnasiums and bigger venues aren’t packed.
Is this the same as polling locations based on your address?
I can't speak to Iowa, but Minnesota used to do caucuses, and in 2016 we had one high school for most of 3 suburbs worth of Democrats. Not small suburbs either... Populations of 65k, 61k, & 52k.