Iowa Caucus

it is the first "primary" of the year. it just shows about where the candidates are. after a few more when candidates keep doing bad they will get dropped from their sponsors which means no funding and get outta the race. like i said it's the first of the year and just kinda lets us see where they really are in the polls...
 
the actually process involved in the actually caucus is really fucked up. instead of just casting ballots like sane people. Iowans (i believe thats what their called) get together in groups and decide on delegates who go to another groups and that group decides who wins. its really confusing and unescesary

and Iowa has the highest literacy rates... go figure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucus
 
I dont know what it is but its crazy here... all these kids are going dictator on your ass telling you who to support.. i got like 5 "I like mike pins" and they gave all these announcements on where you can go and that you can register to vote and my town has like 6 different stations you can go to support different candidates. I guess Obama is in 3rd Clinton in 2nd and Edwards in 1st here
 
ah yes i forgot the process. basically they all split up into repub. and dem. then they have people speak for them. they then split up into groups based on who they wanna vote for. as this is going on people with microphones are trying to persuade them to come to their group. the smallest groups get split and go to another candidate of their choice and (i think) that goes on till their are like 3 (not sure) groups and then they figure out how many delegates each group gets. its crazy dude.
 
um you got the crazy part down... after that not so much.... there are different meeting points depending on whether your democratic independent or republican and then you choose the candidate you support and you go listen to the representative of that candidate speak and then they get a big rally going and you can go and register to vote and pledge to represent that candidate or something like that
 
i guess my teacher is a fucking retard then hahah. he just told us about it today and said people walk around and go to different points. fuck him, if he doesn't know something he shouldn't fucking give us wrong info hahaha.
 
caucuses are horrible it makes it so you cant vote for people who get less then 15% and it is all manipulation fucking sucks, luckily im in Mass.
 
its all personal preference..... everyone here obviously loves the idea of a caucus
 
If it comes down to those two.. you know Obama is going to absolutely destroy Huckabee...

What would the world think of us if we had a president with that name? Might as well be Huckleberry Finn...

Barack Obama is the kind of name that would bring Africa together all by itself... lol.

Haha. Its too early in the process... so I vote based on whos name I like best...
 
I feel pretty good after the results. The best from both parties won. As a bonus it makes the Clinton camp look like the house of cards it actually is.
 
I am really happy that Obama won. If you didnt hear his speech afterwards, I would recommend to find it on youtube or something. It was one of the best speeches I have heard this election season. I still have a slight problem with the whole Iowa caucus seeing as such a small amount of people can decide so much for the rest of the country. I mean, I know that each state has its own primary and that the nominations wont be given out until then, but Iowa has so much more sway than any of the rest.
 
im sorry but im confused why i dont see ron paul anywhere on the polls and news? hes all over the internet, but when i turn on the TV hes like last in some places.
 
it was good, not quite as good as his speech at the democratic convention, which was amazinggg.

i really couldn't be happier with this turnout. obama wins by 7 points and edwards beats hil dawg. huge democratic turnout. obama has crazy momentum going into new hampshire and hopefully he can carry it through the whole election.
 
Paul wound up in fifth, with 10% of the vote. The democratic side looked like this:

Obama 38%

Edwards 30%

Clinton 29%

Richardson 2%

Biden 1%

The republican side went,

Huckabee 34%

Romney 25%

McCain 13%

Thompson 13%

Paul 10%

... And after that I stopped paying attention. What bothers me about this result is that Huckabee, as a person, is likable and honest, and truly believes in what he speaks about. The problem is that his perspectives include outright bigotry against gays and likely active measures in an attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade, as well as a number of steps backwards on gun control. He is a good, personable speaker, but is certainly evangelical primarily and quite extreme... if you watched his interview with MSNBC (who apparently were the only ones with decent, clear microphones at this event) his major point of identification with the American people, his "broad message", was that 80% of Americans want to lower taxes. REALLY? I'm shocked! People want lower taxes? You don't say.

However, he also acknowledged that he has basically no chance of winning in NH. Romney will likely take that one, though McCain also has a chance. I think it'll come down to Mitt and Mike, and depending on how Giulinani's weird little Florida plan works, you never know I guess. Right now I'd just like to see the red side elect a politician like Rudy or Mitt so that at the very least no further disasters will befall the US and the world if the first disaster (an 08 republican victory) were to come to pass... or... well, here's hoping.
 
Oh right... probably worth mentioning... the democratic turnout in Iowa, a red state carried by GW in 04, was around 240,000 people. The republican turnout, around 100,000. Hopefully a trend which continues.
 
In response to the thread starter, the Iowa Caucus is the first of many primaries in which registered party members vote which candidates should receive their party nomination. This caucus in itself is rather insignificant, but as the first primary it is very influential because a win here can build momentum that can carry over to future primaries and lead to their party's nomination.

Concerning the results, I'm glad that Obama performed well and I hope his success will continue in other primaries. However, I was disappointed by Huckabee's victory and I hope that his campaign will fizzle after it fails to win New Hampshire. I'm likely to vote democratic this fall, but in the event a republican wins I would much rather have a successful mormon businessman as president than an evangelical minister.
 
i do beleive this means paul has a zero % chance of the nomination.

and we have been saying he stands no chance for months now.
 
Not to be nit picky, but the Iowa caucus is not technically a primary. A primary election is a private vote where a caucus is a public showing of support for a candidate. You were basically right on the rest. Just thought I would clarify.
 
I am enjoying this so much. I would like a bunch of you Ron Paul lovers to go ask someone (not on the internet) what they think about Ron Paul, chances are they have never heard of him.
 
Why... the dude never had an outside shot to begin with. How does this change anything. I'm honestly pretty disgusted he actually got 10% of the republican vote. Shows you how little they have to go on on the red side, I suppose.
 
As evidenced by the fact that they picked a candidate that wasnt even on the map a couple of months ago that really isnt in touch with their party's ideals in the first place. The evangelicals in Iowa latched onto Huckabee, not for his stance on the issues (because if you really look at them, he is more liberal than almost all of the R candidates) but because he isnt mormon, was a former preacher, and he "seems like a nice guy". They are just grasping for anything that resembles an ok candidate. Later on, I guarantee that the republicans wont go with huckabee. He doesnt fit with the party on several issues. If they were smart at all and want to have any chance at keeping the white house, they will go with mccain. I personally dont care for him all that much because he supports the war too much, but he is the only one that appeals enough with the base to get them out to vote, but at the same time can attract at least some of the independents that are moving to the left in a giant exodus.
 
oh man...imagine this:

"Good morning, President Huckabee,"

No one would take our country seriously with a President named Huckabee
 
And "Good morning Mr. Obama" is better? I couldn't care less what your last name is, as long as you were a good president. With that said Huckabee still won't win because the dude is a crazy evangelical who will likely try to send all the gays to an island or something. I'm just hoping the turn out for the actual election will be great enough to elect a black president. People are still bigoted and ignorant and many parts of the country and will base their decision solely on gender or race, and that's a scary thing. Election of the people my ass.
 
i dont know, but to me huckabee is too tied up in religion to run the U.S. he just seems to me like a dumbass extremist church goer. didnt he say that mormons believe that jesus and the devil are brothers? when he gives speeches and answers questions, he sounds so fake and innocent, when inside hes the next president bush. by the way im from Canada so im not really in favour of anyone.
 
Huckabee is a fucking religious nutball.

Meh, Yea Ron Paul got 5th. He beat Ghouliani.

Just because somebody won the Iowa caucus does NOT mean they will definately be the parties candidate.

Every state has a different demographic of people and I expect Paul to do better in New Hampshire. I honestly bet Paul will do alot better on Super Tuesday too when more than one state is voting at a time.

At least Paul didnt get last.

Seriously, when Huckabee comes out on top in your state, its official that there are alot of nutjobs in your state.
 
Exactly. Other than the McCAin Part. I sincerely doubt that the GOP will back Huckabee. He will get destroyed by whoever the democratic candidate is. He just doesnt have the knowledge and everything revolves around religion with him.
 
10% of the vote is actually quite a bit for a lesser known candidate.

Just because he didnt win Iowa doesnt mean he is done, there are still 49 more states to go.
 
And who's fault is that? The Mainstream media perhaps? Get a clue you fucking idiot. Alot of people in Montana know about Ron Paul, I know that for sure.
 
Yea dude, I mean, god forbid a republican vote for who he/she really wants to support. Why dont they just get a clue and vote for some religous nutball instead?......fucking idiot.
 
Past winners

Candidates in bold eventually won their party's nomination. Candidates in italics subsequently won the general election.

Democrats


Republicans


Controversy

There is a debate over the effectiveness and usefulness of caucuses

in Iowa. One criticism is that the caucuses, especially the Democratic

caucus, are a step backwards from the right to a secret ballot.

Democratic caucus participants (though not Republicans,

whose caucuses vote by secret ballot) must publicly state their opinion

and vote, leading to natural problems such as peer pressure from fellow

neighbors and embarrassment over who his/her real pick might be.

Another criticism involves the sheer amount of participants' time these

events consume. The Iowa caucus lasts two hours, preventing people who

must work, who are sick, or must take care of their children from

casting their vote. Absentee voting is also barred, so soldiers who

come from Iowa, but must serve in the military lose their vote. The

final criticism is the complexity of the rules in terms of how one's

vote counts, as it is not a simple popular vote. Each precinct's vote

may be weighed differently due to its past voting record. Ties can be

solved by picking a name out of a hat or a simple coin toss, leading to

anger over the true democratic nature of these caucuses. [2] Additionally, the representation of the caucus has been questioned due to traditionally low turnout.[3] Others question the permanent feature of having caucuses in certain states, while perpetually ignoring the rest of the country.

 
I think people fail to realize that the majority of the demographic that supports Ron Paul are not a group of people that shows up in the booth. On top of that he's to extreme in his views, and lacks the money or clout that the other republican nominees have. The libertarian pseudo-intellectuals are not going to make any kind of impact.

I like Huckabee because he seems to demonstrate to me that he his willing to meet half way on issues. That is what Washington needs. Washington dos not need another polarized "company man" (or "company bitch" in Hilary's case) to drive an even bigger rift between the people in this country. I feel the he represents compromise.

I like Romney because he is the most economically shrewd of any candidate. McCain gets brownie points because I like his foreign policy.

At present, Obama is the only front-running democrat I would give the time of day. People criticize him for his lack of experience. I see that as a strength. We have enough political dinosaurs in Washington, some fresher blood might be a good change. He is a bit to socialist for my taste however.
 
i attended the republican caucus for my precinct last night. what happened was they asked the audience if anybody wishes to speak on behalf of each of the candidates. after the speeches we wrote the name of who we supported on a piece of paper and turned it in. they counted the ballots and then read the numbers. for my precinct mccain won with 90 votes. huckabee and romney had around 40-50. ron paul had 24 and i think guliani had 3. after the voting people can suggest adding or reforming the "planks" of the party platform. the republican caucus is more organized than the democratic one. however im sure the democratic one is more exciting.
 
Get a clue, man. Ron Paul has no chance of winning the election at all. Maybe the youth love him, but he's too liberal in the midst of his Republican friends to be considered to be following his party. Also, he isn't known at all. The mainstream media basically decides the elections if you haven't noticed, and Ron Paul is off the map there, and won't be on it unless some sort of amazing breakthrough comes within the next couple months. People are so focused on Obama and Hillary now; they won't take notice of any republicans that are in the back of the pack.
 
i don't think huckabee will take it for republicans, i really don't despite what iowa says. and as for ron paul and his supporters, well, your all n00bs
 
Isn't there some interesting trend where every Democrat who has won Iowa has gone on to win the nomination?

Sorry, if someone already posted that, I don't have time to read through all of the above. Is that true though?
 
Even though Huckabee leaves a bad taste in my mouth, you gotta give him props for having Chuck Norris right behind him during his post-caucus speech.

But seriously, he's an ass. I dont know who's worse, him or Romney.
 
Edwards, I cant see him being president, and I cant see Hilary being prez or VP. Edwards is just like the perfect VP for any democrat.
 
yeah, didnt work out so hot last time around though. i dont like edwards... seems like a slime ball... but thats all i really have to go on.
 
kucinich has voiced his support for obama and asked his supporters to make him their 2nd choice if he drops. obama seems to appreciate that and they both agree on several major issues.
 
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