The death of Iowa

[RandySF]

DES MOINES — 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.

There have been close calls before, but nothing approaching the catastrophe of Feb. 3, a date that will be remembered as the beginning of Iowa’s end after a nearly half-century-long run kicking off the presidential primary process. As it became clear in the twilight hours of Monday that Democrats would not produce timely, trustworthy numbers by which to judge the candidates after two years of campaigning in the state, it was equally obvious that Iowa’s day of reckoning had arrived.



https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/04/the-death-of-iowa-110655

[exboyfil]

1. My Republican leaning office mates

are mocking me this morning.

[Scurrilous]

5. Remind them about Cruz, Santorum, and Huckabee. All winners in Iowa.

[apcalc]

2. I consider this a learning experience. And a good one.

First, displaying the craziness of caucuses.

Second, showing one of the problems with electronic tabulation.

Third, the media ‘impetuousness’ in getting instant results.

Fourth, the importance and necessity of ‘getting it right’.

[genxlib]

3. Honest Question

Don't the primary schedules for the two parties match up? Would it take both parties to agree to any arrangement that would not have them first?

Don't get me wrong, it is long past time. I could just see the GOP disagreeing just to be contradictory and to suck up to the Iowans.

[booley]

4. Or they will just fix it

Or they won't and people will adust. They will complain (rightly) but still do the thing.

I mean is this really the worst thing that has ever happened in our election history?

We still let Florida vote, don't we?

[Perseus]

7. In my view it is very bad, the first election to pick a nominee and the DNC screws up?

And you don't think that is bad? I think it is really bad. Democrats should strive for perfection on everything they do. When you set yourself up for ridicule people tend to loose confidence.

[booley]

13. Of course its bad.

So is our entire election system.
And yet here we are, still engaging in it.

There are lots of reasons why maybe Iowa shouldn't' be the cornerstone of or electoral politics. But this is unlikely to change that.

Hopefully, though it will make some in the DNC rethink if they should hire someone to do something based on who they know. Doubt it but I remain hopeful.

And you don't think that is bad?

Please don't put words in my mouth.

[RandySF]

8. We should have an all-primary process.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. Ironically, people are blaming Bernie for reforms that made the Iowa caucus more like a primary.

The Sanders people wanted paper ballots and raw vote totals gathered. Releasing “delegate equivalents” caused heartburn that last two contested cycles.

So at least we will know the actual vote totals - verified on paper ballots filled out by actual voters.

[RandySF]

17. It's still a three-hour process

You still have go out on a cold, dark Monday night and sit around listening to announcements and approving resolutions. And it’s still easier to game if your base is made up of young, single, able-bodied kids.

[Perseus]

6. This is a tragedy, how can the DNC be so stupid to let this happen?

From The Guardian:

Party leaders showcased their incompetence and provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories. The real winner? Donald Trump

[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/04/iowa-results-opinion-panel-trump|

That is why I am so concerned about November, if the DNC was not able to even control their primaries, what can we expect about stopping the cheating republicans have planned for the November elections. This is very bad.

[Hoyt]

11. Reluctantly agree. We can't let this junk happen, yet we did.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. Well, it's 90% white.

And only a small percentage of the state gets to vote.

Sounds like an archaic system.

[ripcord]

19. And yet that archaic system launched President Obama's election (NT)

[Zolorp]

10. And now on to New Hampshire

That sacred cow needs to be put out of our collective misery, too!

[Rebl2]

12. Iowa is not

diverse enough. Never has been. Like you said, Michigan or Florida would be much more diverse and they should be the first in the nation. Please no more caucuses! Paper ballots only. I think caucuses are likely leaving out many people in this process. Is this how Iowa does all of its elections? No not likely. So why do they do it in the selection of who they want to see as our candidate for president?

[Perseus]

14. This was a comment from someone at The Guardian in the article I am providing the link to

I can't believe they're using an *app* for something as important as voting. Have they learned nothing from past voting count failures and all those hacking exposés? (turns out it's incredibly easy to hack most types of voting machine and change the results, never mind just plain incompetence and technical issues)

We've been using paper ballots exclusively here (in the Netherlands) again for ages now because voting software evidently cannot be trusted.



[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/04/iowa-results-opinion-panel-trump#comment-137947309|

I am so upset! Democrats should not allow anything below perfection, and this is a bad start, NOTHING BELOW PERFECTION! Damn it!

[Scurrilous]

15. CNN w/ their hour long live broadcast hyping the release of DMR's Gold Standard Poll was it for me.

Iowa caucuses and all that go with it exist in their present fucked up form because corporate media is intent on shaping the narrative of Presidential elections to benefit their ego driven heightened sense of importance deciding matters politic.



Pour one out for the phony bellwether may it go home to find its shine box.

[Walleye]

18. How about having the first primary in the First State?

Delaware. We have a diverse population, urban and rural areas, and are environmentally aware. We run our statewide elections pretty well. And nice beaches!

[ripcord]

20. How about we let California go first and settle the primaries right there? (NT)