Buh-bye & good riddance, Iowa. Might hurt now but his is a good thing for the party in the future There can be no doubting it now, not after so many years spent in the crosshairs, not after active presidential candidates began challenging its privileged position atop the nominating calendar, and certainly not after Monday night’s debacle that left seven candidates and millions of viewers waiting for results that never came: Iowa’s reign is over. Oh, sure, the state and its fabled caucuses may live on in some ceremonial capacity, perhaps clinging to a sort of emeritus role in the earlier stages of the nominating season. Presidential candidates will still pay occasional homage to the state, observing the time-worn traditions of tractor shows and food on a stick, unwilling to ignore a place and a people that have been so central to the making of the modern American presidency. But Iowa won’t go first. It can’t go first. Not anymore. The disaster that unfolded here Monday night—improper recording of results, failed transmission of precinct tallies, botched management of the voting procedures themselves—will leave no recourse for the national parties. Iowa’s blood has been in the water for years, its sacred-cow status a source of resentment for states like Florida and Michigan that claim to be more representative of the nation. Iowa has survived, cycle after cycle, on the strength of strategic alliances, none more critical than between the Democratic and Republican parties in the state, each one recognizing that one’s failure could doom the tradition clung to by both. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/04/the-death-of-iowa-110655
Apparently Bernie won the first ballot 2 to 1, yet all candidates are claiming victory. Bernie, Warren, and Mayor Pete will share the delegates equally (how appropriate) and Joe gets no soup.
Different issues. We're now a "flawed democracy" but not yet a "Totalitarian state". We might get there pretty soon, but in the meanwhile, the issues are not related: 1. It's a primary, not a general election, so the fault in this particular episode lies on the organizing party in a relatively small state, not with the "US democratic system". 2. Yes, our election system sucks but mostly because of the Electoral college and because we make it too difficult to vote for certain groups, with variances by state. 3. We have not yet get to the point where the official candidate win with 60 or 70 or 80% of the vote, but we might get there in 2024. 4. I always thought that the US didn't have any moral authority to condemn authoritarians, since until relatively recent times, we were fine supporting some of them, and deposing others.
Bernie had a lot of people in the first round, but it seems like after realignment all other viable candidates picked up more people making the second count much closer. But we can always blame the Russians.
This. First round voting will favor the candidate with the most fervent base. But there tends to be herding for those receiving a lot of first round votes operating in different political lanes. Personally, I’d like to see some ranked choice primaries in reasonably diverse states early. I’m thinking places like NC, VA, FL, PA, etc. People could spend a good bit of money on exit polling early RCV states to understand how candidates compare and we could limit things to a few candidates very quickly. We’d know more about who is willing to cross over to whom, who the better “compromise” candidate is, etc.
Even Tom Cole, a Native American Republican congressman asked Trump to stop saying it. Hell even Paul Ryan said it was racist.
Screw Iowa! And New Hampshite too! They need to do the primary season like the WC/Euro qualifyers: Divide the states into random groups, with a balance of different types of states: Rural West, Southern, large-population industrial states, purple "swing" states, or whatever other categories make sense. Each group should have approximately the same number of electoral votes. Have 7-8 states in each group. Run primaries every 2 weeks for 7-8 rounds, and mix them up so that California doesn't always vote when everything is over and the cow-********er states like Iowa and New Hampshire don't have a disproportionate amount of influence.
Do you know how many delegates were available in the dumpster fire that was the Iowa caucus? Why do you think they get a disproportionate amount of influence?
Can someone explain to me why I'm supposed to get upset when some illiterate rural opioid enthusiast calls it the "Democrat Party?" Would they get mad if I called it the Republic Party? TIA.
I think the implication is supposed to be that they are Democrats-- a dirty word-- and not "democratic"-- a semisacred one. And now, with AOL's rise to prominence, we can't even counter by calling them Publicans. Maybe Lycans? Repos?
It's not a bug, more an idiotic programming decision in the first place, one that was maybe necessary for the OS to function at all originally but has long outlived that usefulness. And yes, I believed this long before it became obvious it was propping up Republican presidential candidates. Actually the first time I really became aware of it in the 1984 election I was like "What is this stupid shit?" and I still agree with my 11 year old self.
You don't think that Iowa was a lot more important to Buttigieg than the tiny number of delegates on offer?
I have said this a few times in threads, but Carville hits the nail on the head. Although I am not a democrat, I am perfectly willing to vote democrat.I totally agree with him on all points, and he hits on a lot of the issues I have currently with dems. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...2020-election-democratic-party-james-carville 'By framing, repeating, and delivering a coherent, meaningful message that is relevant to people’s lives and having the political skill not to be sucked into every rabbit hole that somebody puts in front of you. The Democratic Party is the party of African Americans. It’s becoming a party of educated suburbanites, particularly women. It’s the party of Latinos. We’re a party of immigrants. Most of the people aren’t into all this distracting shit about open borders and letting prisoners vote. They don’t care. They have lives to lead. They have kids. They have parents that are sick. That’s what we have to talk about. That’s all we should talk about. It’s not that this stuff doesn’t matter. And it’s not that we shouldn’t talk about race. We have to talk about race. It’s about how you deliver and frame the message. I thought Cory Booker’s “baby bonds” plan was great and the kind of thing the party could connect to people’s actual lives. We have one moral imperative here, and that’s beating Trump. Nothing else matters.'
I thought this part was good too There’s a real yearning for a left-wing revolution in this country, and if we just appeal to the people who feel that, we’ll grow and excite them and we’ll win. But there’s a word a lot of people hate that I love: politics. It means building coalitions to win elections. It means sometimes having to sit back and listen to what people think and framing your message accordingly That’s all I care about. Right now the most important thing is getting this career criminal who’s stealing everything that isn’t nailed down out of the White House. We can’t do anything for anyone if we don’t start there and then acquire more power. Can I say one more thing about the cultural disconnect? .... I want to give you an example of the problem here. A few weeks ago, Binyamin Appelbaum, an economics writer for the New York Times, posted a snarky tweet about how LSU canceled classes for the National Championship game. And then he said, do the “Warren/Sanders free public college proposals include LSU, or would it only apply to actual schools?” You know how ********ing patronizing that is to people in the South or in the middle of the country? First, LSU has an unusually high graduation rate, but that’s not the point. It’s the goddamn smugness. This is from a guy who lives in New York and serves on the Times editorial board and there’s not a single person he knows that doesn’t pat him on the back for that kind of tweet. He’s so ********ing smart. Appelbaum doesn’t speak for the Democratic Party, but he does represent the urbanist mindset. We can’t win the Senate by looking down at people. The Democratic Party has to drive a narrative that doesn’t give off vapors that we’re smarter than everyone or culturally arrogant.
Carville seems to be suggesting that the Dems do what they did in 2018 and talk health care, health care, health care. That seems sensible to me. The topic is very important to people, the Republicans have nothing to offer, and the voters know that the Republicans have nothing to offer. It's also an issue that the Republicans have trouble twisting into "the Democrats are the party that gives favors to Negroes," which is a common and successful campaign tactic for the GOP. But it doesn't work when attacking the expansion of health care, as people realize that pre-existing conditions are color blind.
Sounds like Matalin wants him out of the house. I generally like Carville's schtick and it worked 28 years ago against a standard Republican like Poppy Bush. But Trump is a unique animal. He has 40% of the electorate locked down. I think most ICs in swing states are not so troubled by his idiocy either. So what's the answer IMO? Democratic turnout and firing up the base who despise Trumpism. Not being Republican-lite like Klobuchar.
The only reason it has that influence is because of the way the media frames the process and a lazy electorate that allows it to be framed that way.
Every Democrat needs to show up and vote down Trump. Ultimately, who the Dem nominee is will be immaterial. Every Dem is roughly the same, when compared to Trump. All Dem voters must understand that for this election. I carry some hope that they already do and that the Dem candidate need not spend too much of his/her time attacking Trump. But I could be wrong about that.
Interviews with some NH Dems back it up. "I support ___. But it doesn't really matter to me if they don't win the nomination. I want Trump gone" Whitelandian women - do not fail us again.