Thursday Thirteen ~ Iowa

Thirteen Things about the Iowa Caucus that are on my mind.
(with all love and respect for Mel…)

1. Democrats and Republicans have a total of 15 candidates in play…not including the other party candidates…(Giuliani, Huckabee, Hunter, McCain, Paul, Romney, Thompson, Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson) Why does Iowa get to be the ones to narrow it down?

2. In 1972 the McGovern Campaign aided by a series of articles in the New York Times engineered media and national voter attention on the arcane Iowa Caucus. While I am sure it brings an incredible amount of revenue to the state….it seems to be more of a media circus than an accurate barometer of who the voters support...yet may determine who proceeds.

3. The election of the President of the United States of America is made by the Electoral College. There are 538 electors. Iowa has SEVEN (by the way…California has 55) The number of electors are determined by number of senators (2 per state) plus the number of representatives (435 divided by percentage of population) plus three for the District of Columbia.

4. Iowa keeps moving their Caucus up earlier on the calendar…not sure this seems right somehow.
2004 - January 19
2000 – January 24
1996 – February 12
1992 – February 10
1988 – February 8
1984 – February 20

On Tuesday, 05 February 2008 there will be “primary” or “caucus” elections in 24 states. This represents almost 50% of the electoral votes.

5. Iowa has 2.3 million eligible voters. The Iowa Caucus is held by Precinct. There are 1,781 Precincts in Iowa. The results go on to both parties’ County Conventions…although by a completely different set of procedures. (see below) They have 99 counties in Iowa. California has 58 counties. (Why does Iowa have so many counties?)

6. The Democrats count the number of people actually standing in the area of a room (in a church, school or library) which is designated for a specific candidate. For half an hour you get to try and convince your neighbor (friend or family member) to come stand with you. Then they count who is standing where.

7. The Democrats then determine which of the eight candidates are “viable.” If your candidate did not reach the “viability threshold” of 15% you gotta go find someplace else to stand. This is referred to as “persuasion time.” Those who were standing for candidates who are now not viable….either go stand with their “second choice” candidate….or may abstain. (and yes…everyone is trying to get you to stand with them…it’s kinda like “Red Rover Red Rover” with arm twisting and smokey backroom dealing…)

8. This Democratic head count dictates the delegates’ vote at yet ANOTHER Caucus, then the County Convention, the District Convention and the State Convention. Although they can switch their vote…apparently they do not. This may have something to do with the media declaring the winning Iowa Democratic candidate tonight.

9. The Republicans get to set down and listen to a bit of campaigning from each candidate. They don’t really care…cause last August there was some sort of Straw Poll taken in Ames (which is the center of Iowa) …and that apparently is more important than the Caucus.

10. The Republicans get a blank piece of paper to write down their one choice. (does spelling count? If they just jot down Rudy or Mitt…is that a valid vote? What if their penmanship sucks…and Huckabee look like Hunter?) Not that it matters cause the real Republican decision is made at the Republican State Convention (following District and County Conventions) and is NOT determined at the Caucus.

11. Ties are resolved by tossing a coin…or by drawing a name from a hat. Probably some hat with an e-phn buckeye on it. If you are only 17…but will be 18 by the election date…you get to participate in the Caucus. There is no absentee voting in the Iowa Caucus. If you are too ill to get there…need to work…or military stationed outside of the state…you are SOL.

12. If this does not make you sick at heart it should….
The candidates have spent over $40 million in political television ads. Not including travel…and other related expenses. CNN says that works out roughly to about $17 per voter, between $150 and $200 per expected caucus-goer. (Don’t get me started on the difference between those who are voters and those who actually participate in the Caucus…cause I will go ballistic) Yep…$40 million dollars on television advertising which you KNOW everyone in Iowa has been sick of for weeks now. Do you think ANYone learned ANYthing new about any of the candidates? (my previous rant on candidate spending and voter turnout can be found here)

13. To quote Josiah Bartlett (who is the candidate of choice for Desert Songbird):

You know we forget sometimes…
in all the talk about democracy
We forget it is NOT a democracy…
It’s a Republic.

People don’t make the decisions.
They choose the people who make the decisions.

Could they do a better job choosing?
Yea….but when you consider the alternatives…