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My first caucus experience was pretty awesome. Although I might be a little biased, since I’m for Obama and he did extremely well in Iowa. But that aside, it was just really cool to see people – especially people my age, who historically have been rather blasé about elections – out there caucusing and making themselves heard. I was impressed.
To be honest, going into the caucus, I didn’t really know what to expect. What I didn’t expect, though, was to go to the wrong caucus location and then have to run across a field of snow in heels. Let me explain. Theodore Roosevelt High School – they’re called the Rough Riders, which always entertains me – is back-to-back with Hubbell Elementary School. Both schools were caucus locations. We thought they were connected so we could walk through Roosevelt and get to Hubbell without walking outside. Wrong. By the time we figured this out, it was about ten minutes to seven. That’s when the doors close – anyone who hasn’t made it inside their caucus location by seven p.m. sharp isn’t allowed to caucus. So, we spotted Hubbell across a field of snow from Roosevelt. We decided to make a run for it, despite the fact that I was wearing open-toed heels (which I shouldn’t have been wearing because of my swollen toe anyway… I am an idiot) and the snow was a good foot deep.
Anyway, we made it with about two minutes to spare. For those of you unfamiliar with the caucus process, this is how it went – at least for the Democrats. Republicans caucus a bit differently. After assembling in the location for your precinct (ours was in the gym), we listened to a speech. The speaker varies from location to location – ours was from Senator Tom Harkin (pictured). Then a representative for each candidate had 60 seconds to make a last-minute pitch for their candidate to convince people who hadn’t made up their minds yet.
Then came the real caucusing. Everyone had 10 minutes to assemble in the designated spot in the gym for their candidate. Each candidate was allowed just one campaign sign to mark their area.
Now 10 minutes might sound like a lot of time to assemble, but we had 444 people caucusing, plus observers, plus press all crammed into a relatively small elementary school gym. Maneuvering did take a little time and effort. Oh, and the press wasn’t allowed to interact with the caucus-goers until after the caucus. By the way, 444 is significantly higher than the 279 people that showed up from my precinct to caucus four years ago, so yay precinct 49!!
So, with everyone in the spots for their chosen candidates, and with undeclared and independents in the middle of the gym, the counting started. If a candidate didn’t have 15 percent of the room (67 people in this case) in their section, he/she was not considered viable. The people in that candidate’s corner had to choose another candidate.
Here’s what happened in the first round at my precinct. The first part of the first round was kind of unofficial – each group counts for themselves and lets the person running the caucus know what their numbers were. The unofficial count was:
Barack Obama – 168 people.
John Edwards – 81 people.
Hillary Clinton – 67 people.
Bill Richardson – 54 people.
Joe Biden – 45 people.
Dennis Kucinich – 12 people.
Chris Dodd – 11 people.
Six people were undecided.
So then everyone had five minutes to convince the undecided people to join them (or to get decided people to switch sides). There was lots of yelling and chanting going on – it seriously sounded like a cheerleading competition. I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if caucus-goers had started forming pyramids and doing basket tosses.
After five minutes, the official first count was taken. This was counted out loud for the whole room to hear. The official first round numbers were:
Obama – 175
Edwards – 87
Clinton – 69
Richardson – 63
Biden – 51
By this point, all of the Dodd and Kucinich folks had switched to another candidate since they knew there was no way their candidate would be counted as viable.
Then there was another five minutes of yelling and convincing and cheerleading. Apparently during this time period, the Richardson people convinced some others to switch to their side, so a quick, unofficial recount was done. Richardson now had 67, Biden now had 42. I guess some people left or were in the bathroom or something, because by my count that’s only 440 people.
So, then it was time for the official final count, which was done out loud for the whole room to hear again. The official final count was:
Obama – 194
Edwards – 97
Clinton – 75
Richardson – 69
Those ended up being the four viable candidates from our precinct. Richardson was a bit of an anomaly, because he only won two percent of Iowa as a whole – that means in most precincts, he wasn’t viable at all.
Each candidate gets delegates based on the number of people that caucused for them in that precinct. From ours, Obama got 4.3 delegates, Edwards got 2.1 delegates, Clinton got 1.6 delegates and Richardson got 1.5 delegates. Those delegates then go on to basically caucus again at the county level. The same process will happen and then the delegates from the county caucus will go on to the state caucus. Then the state caucus delegates will go on to the nationals.
So, that’s the whole process! We headed to the Obama after party in downtown Des Moines after that. That’s where I saw the Obamalac. I had to get a picture of that, of course.
Anyway, despite trudging around in the snow with my broken toe, I had a great time. It was a very educational experience and I just loved seeing people who were so passionate about their candidates and causes.
What do you guys think about the Iowa caucuses? Any New Hampshire-ites gearing up for the caucuses? Michiganers, Floridians?? Let’s hear it!
Comments (31)
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NH, Michigan and Florida don’t have caucuses. They have primaries. Sorry, had to say it, loved you post though, extreamly interesting.
posted by Witty Nickname on 1-4-2008 at 11:38 am
confused about one “rumor” that I have heard….
do you have to be a resident of your “precinct” and/or of Iowa to participate in a caucus??
what was the total number of Democratic caucausers as opposed to the total number of Republican caucausers??
thanks
posted by olal on 1-4-2008 at 11:40 am
Witty Nickname, that just goes to show you what a newbie I am to all of this!
posted by stacy on 1-4-2008 at 11:45 am
Not a problem, keep on going, Politics can be fun.
Last night I was watching the election returns on CNN with my 5 week old son. When Edwards spoke he fell asleep, then just 5 minutes later Hillary got up to the podium and he started screaming, and he was unconsolable for the whole speech!
I doubt I will ever have a prouder moment as a parent.
posted by Witty Nickname on 1-4-2008 at 11:51 am
Hmmm,
There’s snow on the ground, you’re wearing open-toed heeled shoes, you arrive at the wrong location just before it’s too late………
Did you put that much thought into your Presidential choice, too?
posted by A Friend on 1-4-2008 at 12:05 pm
We were almost late because my husband works until 6, so by the time he got home and we got in the car and found a parking place it was pretty late.
As for the shoes (peep toe by the way, not open toe, I should have clarified) and being at the wrong school, I’m just an idiot. No defense there!
posted by Stacy on 1-4-2008 at 12:12 pm
Stacy,
Thanks for sharing your experience and kudos to you for participating! Now that I have read your insights, I like that Iowa allows everyone to initially say who they REALLY like before deferring to a “viable” candidate. You’re lucky – by the time New Jersey gets to state a candidate preference it’s pretty much all decided.
posted by byproduct on 1-4-2008 at 12:14 pm
COME TO ARKANSAS ON FEBRUARY 5TH,
IF YOU LIKE~
OUR PRIMARIES SHOULD PROVE EXTREMELY INTERESTING, GIVEN THE CLINTON AND
HUCKABEE HISTORIES HERE.
LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ARKANSAS INPUT!
posted by Ann on 1-4-2008 at 12:24 pm
How’d you like to be the .5 of a delegate that gets to go along with the whole delegate for Richardson? Save on airline tickets, I’m sure. “Don’t mind me, I’m just a half a person, you can stick me in the overhead luggage.”
posted by Molly W. on 1-4-2008 at 12:36 pm
I’m very jealous… I was in the same precinct as you until a few months ago. My new precinct in West Des Moines was not nearly as fun. In fact, they basically ignored all of the rules.
We (Democrat caucus) had 389 people (up from 115 four years ago, or so I was told) crammed into the study hall at an elementary school. The room was built for about 50 people, so it was very hot and crowded. Still, that did not seem to bother most people, and almost everyone was friendly and excited.
Although the doors closed at 7:00, they continue to register everyone that is already in line. This lasted until about 7:30, during which time several of us were collecting and stacking chairs to allow more people in to the room. The temporary precinct president called the caucus to order, we voted on the official president (same person), and got to business. He skipped most of the initial steps (so we did not get any presentations from the various supporters, for example) and we started breaking up into groups.
There was clearly not enough space for us to form our groups in the room, so all of the larger groups (Clinton, Edwards and Obama) formed out in the hallway. Dodd only had a single supporter, but everyone cheered for him.
The initial count had Clinton at 89 (they needed 58 to be viable), Edwards in the 70s and Obama at 112. No other candidates were viable, so the negotiations started. About four people left my group, and I later saw them being counted in a different precinct that was meeting in the same building. I am pretty sure they were just confused, because we were all packed in there pretty tightly. After the shifting, Obama had 166, Edwards had 112 and Clinton had 98. From what I saw, Clinton probably should have had more (still not beating Edwards), because several of her people went home after the first count.
All in all, I am really glad I went. I still wish I was over at Roosevelt, but it was quite an interesting experience.
posted by Kevin on 1-4-2008 at 12:36 pm
Awesome post, Stacy! Thanks for your insight on the goings on at the caucus.
I’m getting ready for the California primaries in February. The caucus sounds a lot more fun than the primaries, however…
posted by Jason! on 1-4-2008 at 12:51 pm
Thanks for the post!
I watched the caucus on C-SPAN last night ( sort of forced my sister and boyfriend, but they were troopers!)
It’s great to see people so excited about politics.
posted by Keri on 1-4-2008 at 12:54 pm
I’m a little taken aback by the lack of privacy. Everyone HAS to know who you’re voting for? No way would I participate in that.
posted by HJ on 1-4-2008 at 1:05 pm
I don’t know about you, but I want to talk to those undecided people. Who shows up to a caucus undecided?
posted by Ashley on 1-4-2008 at 1:15 pm
HJ –
The democrats and republicans caucus differently. The republican caucus starts with a private vote.
posted by bzzyb on 1-4-2008 at 1:19 pm
Stacy, thanks so much for your caucus report. I always wondered what it would be like to attend one.
BTW – I totally get it about the shoes.
posted by JaneM on 1-4-2008 at 1:27 pm
I’m with Ashley. Stacy, did you get a good look at the undecideds? Did they show up hoping everyone would fight over them? Is that what happened?
Were you able to tell which candidates did a better job organizing? Or was it just a total madhouse?
posted by Jason on 1-4-2008 at 1:32 pm
With all due respect, charity, and fellowship, Obama as President! Have you lost your mind? The only rationale, given his lack of accomplishments, is that you have looked at all the candidates and found them all so lacking that you would prefer a complete novice to lead us. While politicians are particularly … revolting, I think that there are more qualified people. I too am reviled at the choices other than Ron Paul. But no one, other than him, gets us out of our current messes with a detailed description. Sorry, but I just think that Obama is too light weight to lead. Personally, I’d rather pick a state guv at random. At least then there’d be some experience to judge by.
posted by reinkefj on 1-4-2008 at 2:03 pm
I don’t really understand how you could show up to a caucus undecided, but maybe someone more knowledgeable about the whole thing than I am could fill us in. Part of the people switching sides thing is strategy too – candidates tell people that if they aren’t viable, they should switch to so-and-so because that is what will help the campaign the most.
It’s sort of a madhouse and it’s sort of not… I guess I’d call it mostly-organized chaos.
posted by Stacy on 1-4-2008 at 2:09 pm
That was a great post! I’ve never understood what caucusing is all about and your description was very helpful for a politics rookie such as myself. It sounds like a lot of fun, much more motivating than filling out a bubble on a ballot.
posted by Leah on 1-4-2008 at 6:57 pm
Allow me to add my voice to the chorus of praise for the post. I too was wondering about the caucus process (until about five minutes ago.) Cool pictures, too!
posted by Joe Maz on 1-4-2008 at 9:15 pm
Honestly, are you choosing a President or voting for an American Idol?
posted by kani on 1-5-2008 at 12:22 am
In my precinct (Des Moines 68 – not too far from Stacy), there were far far more Democrats than Republicans. Ron Paul won my precinct by a fair amount, followed by Romney, then Huckabee. Obama, Edwards, then Clinton on the Democrat side. It was an interesting experience, my favorite caucus so far.
posted by jen on 1-5-2008 at 1:13 am
Considering that more people in America appear to be interested in submitting votes for talentless singers on reality television than participating in the political election process, maybe it’s not so bad that the caucuses really stir people up.
I loved this post. Makes me wish I lived in Iowa (and that doesn’t often happen).
posted by erin on 1-5-2008 at 2:36 am
I’ve never caucused undecided, but I almost did this time. There are a couple of reasons for it, and there’s a strategy to it that’s more interesting than going to a primary. If you actually support one of the big 3 candidates, but have other favorites who you think won’t be viable, you can walk in “undecided” and let people either convince you to support their candidate, or choose one that you think should be made viable. Because we caucus in Iowa, it’s like a mini- electoral college with only the final representative delegates counted, which means that a lot of candidates don’t get any representation at all. While this actually mirrors what happens nationally, it also means there is room for bargaining between the campaigns and generosity in giving a candidate who’s almost viable a few more people.
It’s more complicated than a primary (and extremely confusing for first-time caucus-goers, especially since the caucus locations are not the same as your voting or polling locations) so I don’t blame Stacy for not making it to the right place the first time. A lot of people had that trouble this time around since the majority of people who caucused this year were first-timers, and that in itself is extremely exciting for Iowa. While it’s true that some people in Iowa stay home because they feel that your choice of candidate should be a private matter, it’s also the only way of voting in this country where you actually get to stand up and be counted for your candidate. If you’re passionate about your choice, that is a very empowering way to vote.
Loved the post, Stacy.
posted by CMart on 1-5-2008 at 1:36 pm
A very ineresting post. It sounds more entertaining then the boring old primaries in Pensylvania, and they’re on April 22. What a rip off. Although Mike Huckabee won in the Republican camp because of his strong conservitism, it couldn’t have hurt that his name is fun to say. Just try saying Huckabee without smiling.
posted by John P on 1-5-2008 at 8:48 pm
The biggest concern for me with the caucus set up is the lack of privacy. I know my political views are very different from my dad.
It must have been very intimidating for young voters or those who saw their boss or minister go to a different corner.
I like the secret ballot.
posted by Elizabeth on 1-7-2008 at 8:49 am
I wonder if the privacy thing (or lack thereof) is just something that we’re used to here because of the focus on the caucuses… most of us don’t really have a problem sharing what candidate we’re for. We had a discussion about it at work the morning of the caucuses -all very civil, mind you. None of us bashed on anyone else for their choices. We just shared who we were voting for, out of curiosity. I know who my boss was caucusing for and it was a completely different party than me, but I don’t think it has any impact on our working relationship.
posted by stacy on 1-7-2008 at 9:00 am
Stacy,
Excellent post. I am glad that you had the opportunity to post this to Mental Floss.
I had just started hearing about the Iowa caucus process this year, but this was so much more helpful in understanding what happens. I would’ve loved to have been a part of it.
posted by Neil on 1-9-2008 at 7:45 am
Iowa caucus is crazy. I think it’s better than voting in November, but I’m biased as well, especially since my guy ended up on top. I live in a nice little “old” neighborhood where “Pray for Our Troops” and “Protect the Ten Commandments” signs only get moved when the riding mowers come out early on Saturday mornings, rolling out perfectly matched strips, connecting each yard with John Deere tractor love and harmony. Last time, my precinct had 90 people total at the Democratic caucus, and our expectations were to have 45 Obama supporters at this one. We packed the gym at the local elementary school, counting 284 people right off the bat – 137 for Obama, 49 for Edwards, 44 for Clinton, and 43 for Biden and the rest went to the other people that we all know and don’t need to name here (with all due respect to them). We Obama people were asked to go in the hall to count and the rest of the group realligned while we were in the hall, but we ended up with 4 of the 7 delegates with one each going to Clinton, Edwards, and Biden. There were people there who i didn’t expect to see – my kids teachers who I thought were right-wing religious freaks, doctors’ wives, old people who I figured were conservative, and tons of young people – I wondered where they came from because our neighborhood is mostly old families who have been there forever. Anyway, it was exciting. The Obama group was a mishmash of all kinds of people – young, old, rich, poor, black & white (which I never knew there were any black people in our neighborhood…very cool…), college kids, college profs, teachers, doctors, unemployed people, and lowly social workers and county employees like me and my husband, etc… The Hillary group all looked like angry housewives over the age of 50 (sorry, but that was my observation) and they had taken up half the gym floor with their graciously spaced chairs. The Obama people were smashed up in the back – they had organized the gym early on to give Clinton and Edwards their own corners and the rest of us were supposed to space out along the back wall. That obviously wasn’t good planning. Anyway, it was fun and exciting. Fired up! Ready to Go!
posted by Christine Murcia on 1-9-2008 at 12:12 pm
Great reporting! I too enjoyed reading your first hand account of the events. Organized chaos and no hanging chads. Love the Obamalac!
posted by Martha on 1-12-2008 at 12:13 am