Washington State is having primary in lieu of a caucus

[Gothmog]

Last edited Sun Apr 7, 2019, 05:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Caucuses are un Democratic

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Exotiki]

1. Bad news for Bernie Sanders

In a caucus system, he would win many more delegates than in a primary.

[Gothmog]

8. sanders won 74% to 26% last cycle

This is indeed not good news for sanders

[NurseJackie]

10. But excellent news for democracy!

Bad news for Bernie Sanders

But excellent news for democracy!

In a caucus system, he would win many more delegates than in a primary.

Caucuses are UNDEMOCRATIC ... they violated the sanctity of the secret ballot ... it allows for BULLYING and INTIMIDATION and it prevents many from participating due to how they're scheduled.

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. Movement away from Caucuses wouid have been bad news for Barack Obama in 2008 too

But it is simply the right thing to do. Primaries maximize the ability of all registered voters to participate.

[pnwmom]

24. Obama won both the caucuses and the primary in 2008. I just checked.

But Bernie had a very lopsided win in the caucuses even though Hillary trounced him in the primary.

[JI7]

30. no, Obama won both. he had a strategy for both.

[BlueFlorida]

21. yep

no bullying prospects.

[RandySF]

28. We'll know what they vote.

[helpisontheway]

43. That means it is excellent news for me. Nt

[Control-Z]

2. Excellent!

K&R

[Little Star]

3. Good!

[MineralMan]

4. Minnesota did the same, passing the presidential primary law

after the 2016 election. So, next year, we'll vote in our primaries on March 3, 2020.

N.B. Bernie Sanders won in the caucuses. He would not have won in a primary.

[BlueFlorida]

20. Precisely

this is to stop one candidate who has ardent and combative supporters from bullying his/her way to a win while the general population of registered Democrats has a different perspective.

[SidDithers]

5. DU rec...nt

Sid

[comradebillyboy]

6. Good, caucuses are undemocratic. I also see that the

Iowa caucus has been modified to make it more accessible and more democratic. A positive trend in my opinion.

[Gothmog]

7. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

[customerserviceguy]

9. Good to hear this

When I lived there, I always went to the caucuses, but for many others, it was a pain.

[Cha]

11. Excellent News! Thanks, Goth!

[Gothmog]

46. There will be far fewer caucuses this cycle

[Cha]

47. Therefore more Democracy!

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Good. Whenever possible that is how it should be

At our rural Town level our Party uses caucuses to select candidates for local election, but there are only about 3500 residents in our town, and a primary is prohibitively expensive for us. I see no good reason why any state shouldn't use primaries.

[plimsoll]

14. Good news, but a little terror at the same time.

We've had more than our share of ...uh... not particularly accurate primaries. Mostly local elections it's true, but I seem to recall some howling flake that wound up as the Secretary of State candidate a number of years ago, because her name was similar to a well respected Democrat.

[ehrnst]

16. Can you provide links? (nt)

[plimsoll]

23. Sorry small mix Up.

I remember thinking this won't turn out well at the time. But I forgot the name and the exact nature of the screw up. I can't find any articles about it, but I remember the state Democratic party wasn't thrilled. There have been other problems as well.

Should have said well known astrologer.

Theres also this.
Not exactly the best

But this kind of baffling stuff happens.

[ehrnst]

33. What "other problems as well?" (nt)

[plimsoll]

35. As I stated to pnwmom

In this case the GOP will use it to ratfuck our nomination. And surprise, they've done it before, only this time I can't find any links because it was co-workers laughing about down ballot races they'd voted for some twit in.

[pnwmom]

25. A little terror? Sorry, but I've been through caucuses that were AWFUL.

And the state's voters voted to end them long ago, but the Democratic party stubbornly hung onto them. And then you'd go to the caucuses because it was the only way to have a vote, and they'd add insult to injury -- by asking you for a donation to help pay for the caucuses you -- and the majority of voters -- had voted against!

[plimsoll]

32. Yep they suck.

But (and I hope you'll pardon the crudity) don't you think our state GOP will use it as an opportunity to ratfuck our primary? They're already going to run trump, so I think the GOP will get about 2 percent of the vote and we'll get some screwy crap as a result. Given the court cases that forced this I don't see a way around it.

Is this better, yes.
Is this more democratic, yes.
Will pricks find a way to abuse this, yes.

[pnwmom]

41. I guess we'll find out. n/t

[samnsara]

39. i loved the caucuses. It was like old fashioned town hall meetings...

...and YES you could vote with a paper ballot if you had a reason for missing the caucus....but these caucuses were held on Saturday afternoons... most folks had the day off and those who worked could get a ballot. They were held at the high school..pretty much close to everyone (even I had to drive 15 miles to go to it). My hubby got a ballot to mail in because he worked. No proof needed.

It was the bullying I didn't like..little ol ladies being hounded to change their vote..that was shameful. But it was Democratic. It was offered to everyone and everyone was allowed to attend. It kind of separated those who were serious about voting from those who werent. You actually had to think.

[pnwmom]

42. No, you couldn't get a paper ballot if you were an out of state college student. I tried

to get one for my son. He didn't fall under one of the allowable categories.

What if I can't make it to my precinct caucus at 10:00am on March 26th -- can I still vote?
You must be present at your caucus location at 10:00am on March 26th and submit a sign-in form in order for your vote to be counted. We recommend arriving at your caucus 30 minutes early. The deadline to submit a Surrogate Affidavit Vote (in cases of illness, disability, work schedule, religious observance, or military service) was March 18th at 5:00pm, and has already passed.

https://www.wa-democrats.org/page/2016-democratic-caucuses-faq

Other people I knew lied to get one.

But you were right about their being no secret ballots. No one should have been able to bully anyone else, but it happened. And many people stayed home after attending one caucus because they didn't want to have to fight their neighbors in order to vote.

[kurtcagle]

36. It happens

I remember Lyndon Larouche getting several of his followers elected in Illinois by using candidates with very vanilla names. I think it would be harder to do the same thing to do, but I'm probably idealistic in that regard.

[plimsoll]

40. Probably, but I don't think that's bad.

There's no good way to fix the system that people of bad faith can't break.

I've just reach the point where I'm not sure I could trust the GOP base not to steal a hot stove.

[ehrnst]

15. Democracy wins in Washington state! (nt)

[TCJ70]

17. As every state should. N/t

[BlueFlorida]

18. This will be beneficial to the real Democrats nt

[Gothmog]

48. Real Democrats are very happy with this change

[dlk]

19. Caucuses are a Throwback to a Long Gone Past

They don’t take into account the realities of modern life.

[cilla4progress]

22. We hosted raucous caucuses

at our home 2 election cycles 2004 (Kerry) and 2008 (Obama). I live in a red area and it was fun to get all the closet Dems together We found out who each other were!

[pnwmom]

27. But you didn't get ALL the closet Democrats together. Only the ones with the time

and the inclination to spend hours at a caucus meeting, discussing and taking votes.

[RandySF]

26. Good.

[sheshe2]

29. Annnnnnnnnnnd

A Democratic process wins!

[samnsara]

38. so when you attended your caucus what about it didnt you like?

[sheshe2]

45. My state has primaries.

It is a Democratic process. You go in and vote, not attend a shit show that most don't have the time to attend due to work. You can go in and vote before or after work, lunchtime, whenever.

Sorry, I don't see that a caucus is Democratic and dies make it harder for all to attend.

[still_one]

31. Good

[democratisphere]

34. Caucuses breed political corruption.

One person, one primary vote without outside influences affecting that vote. All caucuses should be abolished.

[samnsara]

37. the caucuses were great grass roots gatherings.. i LOVED THEM... until last elsction

...when people from one side decided to bully folks on the other side. So Im glad for the change but only for that reason... So now with all mail in ballots we NEVER get a chance to connect with fellow voters unless we are volunteering at the Dem hdqtrs...

[helpisontheway]

44. Glad caucus decision will hurt Bernie but then I think we would not have had Obama

without caucuses.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

49. Minnesota has switched, too.

[Gothmog]

50. sanders got 61.6% of the vote and delegates in 2016

This is great news for democracy

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. The caucuses were sort of fun, but primaries are fairer, so

I'm glad we switched back to them.

[GP6971]

52. Great News!! n/t

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

53. Great

A lot of people don't have the time to attend a caucus on the weekend.

[oasis]

54. Smart move.

[ismnotwasm]

55. I'm very happy about this

[MFM008]

56. Good

The last one was a pain in the ass.
Hours there
Ran out of ballots....

[tritsofme]

57. Caucuses are indefensible and undemocratic. The Democratic Party should guarantee a secret ballot

primary election to voters in all states, and caucuses should be banned as a method of choosing delegates.

[Gothmog]

58. Alaska May go to a primary

Link to tweet

?s=20