DNC meddling led to Iowa caucus debacle

[reACTIONary]

A lot of this "lessons learned" audit report is straight forward lessons learned in tech management. A lot of it is just a pissing contest. But there are some bigger lessons to be learned buried in the report and the article.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/12/iowa-caucus-dnc-report-444649

“The DNC has certainly taken the position that there should no longer be caucuses in any state and has imposed requirements that make it even more difficult to carry out caucus,” the report concludes.

Since 1972, Iowans have held the nation’s first presidential nominating contest, a position that has come under attack from Democrats who argue the state’s overwhelmingly white population is not representative of the country and therefore should not play an outsize role in picking the party’s nominee.

In particular, the audit points to the difficulties the state party faced in increasing participation while avoiding any processes that were similar to primary voting because of New Hampshire’s insistence on being the first primary state in the nation.

* Get rid of caucuses. Just fucking get rid of them.
* Who the fuck cares if your state is the first state. Or the first 'primary' state. Just fucking get over it.

Also, get your tech act together - sheesh.

[msongs]

1. Iowa is a right wing red state now. tell it what to do or it can lump it nt

[empedocles]

7. Not representative of the Dem electorate

[dutch777]

8. I think the states basically control the methodology of their elections and dates

While the DNC can advise and cajole, I don't think there is much else it can do regarding caucus vs. primary election and so on.

I do agree that I think much about how the country votes is absurd but not sure much that can be done on a national level, given states rights in the matter.

I do think the following would be an improvement:

All states hold primaries.

Eliminating Iowa and New Hampshire from their early "editing" positions on candidate in favor of maybe 5 primary dates with ten states each group picked randomly in each presidential election.

All mail in voting or voting stations located within 30 minutes of all residents and staffed/equipped to assure no more than a 30 minute wait.

All voting systems, procedures, security and staff and related reporting systems tested for reliability and proper training one month in advance of the election by an independent testing agency.

[comradebillyboy]

2. Pete won the Iowa caucus. Woo Hoo.

But yes you are correct, get rid of caucuses.

[JI7]

5. And Pete would have won New Hampshire also if the Iowa win was announced

earlier.

But Biden was still going to end up winning the primary and end up our nominee in the end.

[comradebillyboy]

14. It was a real treat to see Joe Biden confound all the pundits

and all his critics. He definitely exceeded my expectations.

[JI7]

3. One thing I loved about this election is Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida. and Ohio

were not as huge factors in past elections.

Iowa and New Hampshire for the Primary and Ohio and Florida in the GE.

Iowa and new Hampshire can still go first but they need to share it with maybe 2 other diverse states.

[Sneederbunk]

4. Ditto NH.

[madaboutharry]

6. The caucuses are just plain stupid.

They disenfranchise voters across several demographics; young parents (particularly single parents), shift workers, medical professionals (doctors and nurses unable to leave hospitals), the elderly, the disabled, low income workers unable to secure transportation, emergency personnel...the list is long.

Not only that, they don’t work in highly populated districts like in Des Moines where hundreds and hundreds of people are together in the same high school gym. It invites disorganization and mistakes.

Iowa needs to scrap the caucuses and join a primary day.

[Yavin4]

9. Primaries should be regional.

Divide the states into 4 regions. Hold one regional primary once a month in four months. Rotate which region goes first every 4 years.

The campaigns will cry about costs, but that can be counterbalanced with more debates, free TV, podcasts, and other social media. Buying blocks of TV ads is very old school thinking. Trump won the Republican nomination with hardly any ads. Biden won the Democratic nomination with no money.

Democratic primary voters will find you if you have a good message.

[AmericanCanuck]

10. Start the primaries in Nevada

and NO. MORE. CAUCUSES.

[brooklynite]

11. You can't get rid of the Iowa Caucus...

...because the Iowa Republican Government won't approve a change to a Primary. The only thing that can happen is that the Iowa Democratic Party converts the definition of "Caucus" from "standing around in a school gymnasium to be publicly counted" to "a daylong opportunity to cast a ballot, managed and paid for by the Party".

[reACTIONary]

12. I didn't realize that...

According to the article Iowa Democrats went out of their way to avoid...

any processes that were similar to primary voting because of New Hampshire’s insistence on being the first primary state in the nation.

So it seems possible for them to do what you suggest, but they seem to have failed to do so out of concern about starting an honor feud with NH.

[JI7]

13. So the Democratic Party can Pay for it.