BTRTN Iowa Caucuses Postmortem: Literally

[reggieandlee]

Born To Run The Numbers takes a close look at what happened in Iowa and what it means for the candidates:

http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2020/02/btrtn-iowa-caucuses-postmortem-literally.html

Excerpts: "The Iowa caucuses were an unmitigated disaster, of that there can be no doubt. The famous failed reporting app, untested and backed up by…..nothing….will go down in political lore as “The App That Ate Iowa.” The odds are quite high that the Iowa caucuses are dead, with a quaint and quirky legacy: a strange, unwieldy and virtually incomprehensible process that, nevertheless, was almost unerringly correct in predicting the Democratic Party nominee...
"But, for all the angst and outrage, the outcomes are clear and unlikely to change. Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders were the big winners, of the delegate count and the popular vote, respectively. Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren the big losers. Amy Klobuchar did not do well enough to support the underlying rationale for her campaign. Mike Bloomberg was thrilled with the muddled outcome, which is just what his late-starting, Super Tuesday-driven campaign needed...
"The most troubling statistic for the night was the low caucus turnout for the Dems, only about 170,000 versus the 240,000 high mark in 2008. If you needed any further evidence that there is no Barack Obama in the field, look no further. One can only hope that when November rolls around, this intra-party contest apathy will give way to a turnout frenzy when Donald Trump is on the ballot...
"The only eulogy being written right now is for the Iowa caucuses themselves. Long critiqued for both their quirkiness and ultra-whiteness, the debacle gives its enemies, and there are many, more than enough ammunition to bury the beast long before 2024. That sound you heard in New Hampshire is not cheering throngs for Bernie or Pete, but rather for the demise of the Iowa pretender and the return of New Hampshire to first selector status in the next election cycle."