DU political junkies following Iowa Republican Caucuses tonight...

[MarkCharles]

Is there a General Discussion thread to follow the Iowa Caucuses tonight? or...is this it?

I have to admit! Some of us are political junkies, we have two TV's and watch MSNBC and Current TV coverage of this.

I'm just asking how to behave myself, or asking how we can share our DU observations of the Republican behaviors in Iowa, and how we can learn something from them.

Anyone have a link or some advice for a rather new guy here wanting to talk to fellow political junkies like me?

[quinnox]

1. thanks for starting one

[MarkCharles]

2. Thanks for your prompt reply, so maybe I should change the title?

to something like:

"DU political junkies following Iowa Republican foolishness tonight"?

Or maybe just "DU junkies following Republican Iowa Caucuses tonight"

[quinnox]

3. yea, I was going to suggest a title change

I prefer the more serious title, because I'm serious about my politics!

[MarkCharles]

4. DONE! Thanks !

Obama and other Dems running for office can learn from this event, I am sure.

We need to figure out how to get Ron Paul supporters and Santorum supporters and even Romney supporters in the Midwest to come to love Obama and Dem House and Senate candidates in the flyover states for the general election.

The White House and Obama and Dem Party staffers should learn from this, as we do.

[Lil Missy]

5. I'm dressed and ready to report to caucus!

Have to report at 6:30. I understand that President Obama will be addressing us over live cam.

Let's go kick some butt!

[MarkCharles]

6. So we have an Iowa voter here, WONDERFUL!!!

so happy to have you reporting in!

I was watching Morning Joe yesterday, or was it Chris Matthews, and he was out interviewing the gang in DesMoines at the coffee shop, and more of them were for Obama than for a Republican. Interesting.

Thanks for showing up!

Come back and tell us how the TV Obama event went, later tonight, please!

[Lil Missy]

8. I saw that too. I'd love to be there myself. I'm in Council Bluffs.

I'll let you know what happened when I get home.

[MarkCharles]

10. You're way out West in hill country!

I drove East through there and was amazed by the hills and views of the river. It is a wonderfully pretty area of Iowa, just across from Omaha, Nebraska. Nice of you to check in!

[seeviewonder]

13. I'm in Carroll!

Nice to see someone here from my region in Iowa!

[MarkCharles]

7. By the way, I think Rachel Maddow is a great panel leader

much better than Chris would have been.

Chris has his moments, but he's not a good MC.

Rachel lets people talk, and she has one Republican there to analyze the event.

I love her, she's such a wonderful hostess.

[SixthSense]

9. linky

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/data/iowa-caucus/results/

also Drudge decided to front run the whole thing by posting his own online poll, if you want to check that out. Obviously that's biased towards Internet users and users of that site in particular, but there may be some interesting information to derive in the difference in that outcome vs. the actual caucus results - I would interpret this as the impact of older voters who are less likely to be online or spend time on online news sites.

I'll put out a prediction so everyone can laugh at me later: Paul 26, Santorum 25, Romney 20, Gingrich 9, nobody else except maybe "uncommitted" breaks 5%.

[MarkCharles]

11. I would LOVE to see your predicted results!

It all depends upon organization in the Iowa Caucuses. It's not really an election, more like a popularity contest. Iowa can get out all those idealist college anti-war kids, no problem, as can evangelicals who want to vote AGAINST Romney. So you might be right, maybe not in numbers but in results top to bottom.

Iowa is very quirky, and remember, only 1/3 of Republicans ever show up for these things.

[MarkCharles]

12. Just kicking my own thread, shamelessly! Comments PLEASE! n/t

[Lil Missy]

14. I'm Back!

The Republican caucus was at another location, so I have no inside information.