Early Tuesday morning, hours after the doors closed on caucuses all over Iowa, not a single precinct had reported any official vote tallies.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1288877
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1288877
Gee, who could possibly have predicted that?
Except, maybe, anyone who knows anything about IT and security.
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Feel free to borrow the concept America. Australia has LOTS of political problems but thankfully management of our elections is very far down our list thanks to independent (of political parties) management of them. https://www.aec.gov.au/
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Tallying issues aren’t the only issue. Turnout is down. About the same as 2016 at 172,000. In 2008 it was 240,000. We are so fucked … and this is before Trump and the GOP turn on their fake news machine. WTF? A Republic if YOU can keep it. We can’t. Why doesn’t anyone fucking care??? Apathy is sinking and has already sunk our republic.
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I read earlier that in one major precinct of Des Moines they expected 600 people to caucus but more than 1,000 had showed up so they had to keep printing more and more registration cards. Where are you getting this downer info cal dreamer?
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How hard can this be? There are what, 1000 caucuses, 10,000 caucuses, reporting results over a several hour period? That is not a large load. Smells like deadlock on the server side. Please tell me they tested this with more than one simultaneous client.
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What a shit show. Try democracy next time, Iowa.
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Let’s just call this a GRU-themed dry-run shall we?
jw1
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This Iowa caucus tradition should be terminated. Clearly. And tonight’s fiasco is almost a side issue in that regard.
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OUCH! This is going to leave a mark!
This is like having a Broadway premier
… with a full house … and the curtain planned to go up at 8:30 …
… … … and then, three hours later the curtain still has not risen …
several careers will be destroyed by this
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Political revolution my ass.
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Turn the lights out Iowa. Your undemocratic first-in-the-nation primary days are over. Frankly every other caucus can go away too.
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Gee, just what "dumb-o-crats needed. An ancient system (vintage 1972) that trips over its own untied shoelaces while trying to defend an antiquated system that was put in place before the PC, before the Internet, before the “Iphone” and even before “apps.”
The worst part of all of this that no one in the media will touch is that this electronic screw up actually makes the half-baked gang of Gonifs in the White House look competent by comparison.
When I burned my registration as a Democrat in 2010, I did so for many reasons.
The first among them concerned the Process the party clung to when it comes to picking candidates, and electing people who would (and still do) kow-tow to the “Establishment.”
This is the very same Establishment that arranged a series of shameful, useless and divisive “Cattle call” debates, and the issues an “app” to report results TWO DAYS before what they try to sell as an important political event. (No training, I can safely assume, and naturally no back up plan in case something goes wrong, except to fall back on the old system which is twice as old as some of the people waiting two hours on hold trying to use it.)
Congratulations, “Dopey-crats”, You’ve made American Democracy look stupid and antiquated.
Vladimir Putin could not have done a better job, given four more years to work on it. (which he’s likely to get when The Great Orange Pretender “wins” another term.)
I’me registered these days as an Independent. If the democrats want my vote, this “primary” nonsense must be changed, as must the selection process for candidates put before the public who would bear the name of the Democratic party.
As it stands, after tonight, can anyone blame me for being so very mistrustful of the “Establishment” that I’m beginning to feel like the best way to express my frustration is to STAY HOME and not vote again at all until the Democratic Party has caught up to me, rather than the other way around?
Will Rogers one said: “I’m not a member of any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”
Right now, I would sign up in a heartbeat to be a member of the party that Will Rogers knew.
After Tonight, I’m not touching the “dumb-o-cratic party 2020 edition” with a 39 and 1/2 foot poll.
This is an “Establishment” mess. Let’s see if they have the guts to clean up their own house before what’s left of “america” trusts them again with the White House. I doubt it as I doubt them. And I’ll bet that after tonight, I am not alone.
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We don’t know a lot of the basic stuff about this IA caucus. But we did learn a few things:
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Bernie Sanders didn’t have a good night. He worked the DNC and the IA Democratic Party for this moment. He had the rules changed for this moment. He even strong armed the DNC into not doing anything to shut down caucuses or change the primary order for this moment. The demographics favored him. He had a split opposition on the center left with the vote being divided between Buttigieg, Biden and Klobuchar. Yet, he couldn’t post a clear win (and now no one will ever trust the results). More importantly, Bernie’s theory of the case took a big blow today. He keeps claiming that he can change the electorate with an influx of young and indie voters. This electorate wasn’t that young. New voters didn’t show up. The turnout looks to be meh. In addition, whenever they figure out how to actually count votes there, it would appear that the 3 center left candidates got close to 50% of the vote while the left candidates fell short of that. We don’t know exactly where they will be but 40%-42% is likely. Bernie basically flubbed a home game.
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Biden had a bad night, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Biden was projected to do well in the rural, smaller counties and by the time they get this stuff counted for real, he might end up close to his polling average. However, he didn’t place at a lot of urban caucus sites and was tracking in the teens with the sliver of the vote that was released. He isn’t claiming victory and that’s probably because he didn’t win. But this is such a mess, that he can get people to forget about it and move on. However, there are real questions to ask about his organization and ability to raise money. I think he has to be better to win the nomination. He has to be able to clear the field. I don’t think he can wait for South Carolina because Bloomberg lurks and he’s looking pretty appealing to a lot of center left folks and minority voters. Biden has to stick Bernie hard in NH, and also elbow Pete/Amy. They’re both cannibalizing his ideas, arguments and potential vote. He needs to whack them both and show he’s a bad ass.
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Caucuses suck. IA going first sucks. Not a surprise. This disaster validated every criticism of the primary process, the white-centric approach of the media, and the DNC for running a crappy white centric primary. If South Carolina had been first, we’d still be having Harris, Booker and Castro in this race, competing. That would’ve added great value to this party. We instead gave the baton to state whose electorate was 91% white in a party that is 40% minority. It’s just political malpractice.
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Pete Buttigieg has been a mostly dead end candidacy in my view (a direct product of IA going first), but give him credit for execution. He might’ve saved the party from a far left take over with a good performance tonight. He’s still a dead end candidacy.
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I don’t want to hear another fucking word about Amy Klobuchar for VP. She has no path to the nomination, yet she decided to push hard in IA, copy Biden’s script about fearing a hard left takeover, and yet enable Bernie Sanders to be the favorite to win the caucuses. At least Pete had been posting solid poll numbers for several months to justify making a big play to win IA. Amy never had a chance and then she basically grew her vote by undercutting Biden and splitting the center left vote.
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Elizabeth Warren did not appear to have a good enough night. I thought she had the best chance for a surge, but it was Pete who had that moment. We don’t know exactly where she finished, but she’s not claiming to be #1 or #2, and that’s probably because she wasn’t. For all the money, hype and positive press coverage she received through the summer and fall of last year, this is a disappointing performance. I do think she would’ve benefited from a wealthier state going first. That said, she might be able to use this debacle to campaign hard in NH and make the case that the electorate demands something new and more inclusive to take on Trump and Bernie ain’t it. I’ve felt her purpose is to elbow Bernie to the side, but her inability to draw clear, sharp contrasts with him is what has caused her candidacy to go flat.
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Someone please explain to me why Iowa even matters?? All this time and attention for WHAT? It is a state with alot of idiot farmers who helped it go red 2016. Iowa most likely will go Red in November and has 6 electoral votes. With the debacle on counting tonight. Their were already signs of changes in the future about Iowa. It is a rural white state. The only headlines Iowa has recently had was when Obama won Iowa. A black candidate winning in Iowa was a big deal. Super Tuesday will tell the story.
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Looks like somebody managed to score a copy of the video the Iowa Democratic Party took of the first requirements gathering meeting they had with their software company. Seems to explain what happened tonight:
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Am really imagining that Bloomberg must be making giant media buys right now to capitalize on this fiasco.
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As far as Bernie is concerned I just shake my head at his supporters. Have you seen the stuff coming out recently about Bernie. Not a coincidence either. His comments from the past about the Iran hostage situation. His comments from the 70’s comparing poor white people to South Africa’s apartheid. Now I understand the quotes from Obama about wanting to stop Bernie from the nomination.
Here is the thing: The economy isn’t the big issue which is what gets politico change. The general populace is not clamoring for a huge upheaval. What the people against Trump want is Trump out of office because we are patriots who believe in the USA Ideals. If you had told someone in Rome 400AD Rome would collapse. They would have laughed at you. No Democracy is guaranteed and Trump is weakening our Democracy. We could get another Trump politician in the future who has his autocratic impulses. But is also very intelligent. Yes it could happen.
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