Super Tuesday turnout: 6% in caucuses. 29% in primaries

[Phil McCavity]

Wow.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/02/our-view-on-pre.html#more

[stillrockin]

1. good grief

[NJSecularist]

2. Obama: 10 wins in primaries

HRC: 10 wins in primaries.

Hillary, you have no excuse.

[Phil McCavity]

12. will you dare guess who's earned most delegates in that 10-10 split? n/t

[NJSecularist]

15. Cavity, it doesn't matter

10 wins for Obama vs. 10 wins for Hillary

You want to eliminate the caucus process because it doesn't favor your candidate. But I didn't hear any complaints in 2000, 2004, etc.

[Phil McCavity]

21. number of states won do not matter at all. Some states carry more electoral weight

If i date 10 playboy bunnies and you date 10 ugly girls, someone has the edge.

[NJSecularist]

25. But if I get 10 models on my side in addition to the 10 ugly girls, I win

And obviously, models = caucuses.

[Tom Rinaldo]

23. You didn't hear complaints about the electoral college much in 1992 and 1996

That's because the guy who won the popular vote won the electoral vote also. You DID hear complaints about the electoral college in 2000 though, when Gore won the popular vote and Bush became President.

In 2000, 2004, etc. the nominating process did not go down to the wire, it was not close, and aside from the traditional role played by Iowa, the nomination was settled quickly with a quick string of mostly primary contests piling up the delegate totals for Gore and then Kerry.

[vireo]

27. There also were not complaints about the superdelegate process

Until recently.

[Tom Rinaldo]

28. Exactly so n/t

[mohc]

33. After tomorrow

Obama will have more delegates from primaries. He is currently down 33 from the 1598 delegates chosen at primaries so far, not a particularly large percentage (there are still a handful of unapportioned delegates in some of these states). If Obama wins 60% of the delegates tomorrow, that gap will be erased, and he looks very likely to do so.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. regardless of who you support

caucuses suck.

[Beaverhausen]

7. I agree

thousands (millions?) of voters are disenfranchised by the caucus process.

[donheld]

11. how so?

[MonkeyFunk]

18. Many people are unable to attend

due to work, lack of babysitters, other commitments. They have to be in a particular place at a particular time, and it takes a couple hours.

Voting is done throughout the day, and in most places, takes just a few minutes.

Also, some people may not be comfortable expressing their preference in front of their families, neighbors, friends and co-workers.

The turnout numbers in the OP point out the problem.

[donheld]

29. I always thought like you till I attended one

If you actually saw a caucus in action you might change your mind too.

[MonkeyFunk]

30. I'm sure

they're exciting, and a lot of fun.

Nonetheless, many people are unable to attend them for a variety of reasons. We should make voting EASIER, not harder.

[Beaverhausen]

32. I observed the caucus in Las Vegas - the Bellagio

and I canvassed the day before. Many people wanted to attend but couldn't due to work, being sick, being unable to physically be there, having something come up at the last minute (i.e. a funeral) etc.


It's ridiculous in this day and age to have to make a whole state vote during a pre-set one hour (or so) period. This isn't 1781 after all.

[mckeown1128]

34. The fact that it is harder to show up doesn't favor any

particular candidate. It only favors a candidate with better organization....which is a good thing. We should have a nominee with a better run campaign.

[MonkeyFunk]

36. Who cares if it favors a particular candidate?

It makes it hard for people to vote. That used to be considered a bad thing.

And yes, it certainly CAN favor a particular candidate.

[donheld]

9. Have you every attended a caucus?

[MonkeyFunk]

20. No

I've always lived in states that make it easy to vote.

[paulk]

4. yup. there it is.

and that is also something the super delegates will be looking at.

[book_worm]

5. Good for Obama! Winning both primaries and caucuses.

[Phil McCavity]

8. and who's ahead in the popular vote in primaries? n/t

[book_worm]

10. and whose ahead overall?

you HRC supporters are grasping at straws. First it was after NH that HRC was back and nothing can stop her now. After SC it was enjoy it while you can becuz Obama can only win two states on Super Tuesday. After Super Tuesday it was HRC won CA and NY despite NY being her homestate and Obama getting 40% of the vote there and CA which had a HRC early advantage due to early voting, nevermind that Obama won more states overall. Now the memme is "Oh, caucuses don't count." Even though Obama has won just as many competitive primaries as HRC.

[RL3AO]

13. They've both won 10 primaries.

11 for HRC if you count Florida.

Last time I checked, combined popular vote doesn't mean crap.

[Phil McCavity]

16. who earned most delegates in those primary victories? even discounting FL and MI n/t

[book_worm]

26. What does that matter? whose won more delegates overall?

and who will in all likelihood win most Virginia, DC and Maryland primaries tomorrow (whoops possibly three more primary victories for Obama which means he will have won more primaries than HRC!).

[HeraldSquare212]

6. I still think they're good for party-building.

Some states need to take advantage of the excitement created by the presidential campaign to strengthen their party; it has benefits up and down the ticket. Although, to be perfectly honest, I'd like to see some studies of the relative effectiveness of caucuses at party-building.

[HughMoran]

14. gravy?

buehler?

[BeyondGeography]

17. The general election will not be a caucus

and Obama continues to do better in every poll:

http://thepage.time.com/2008/02/11/national-ap-poll/

[Proud2BAmurkin]

19. Very important information for the superdels

[anamandujano]

22. Thank you. /nt

[AX10]

24. kick

[incapsulated]

31. Caucuses suck but that's the rules

I want the done away with, eventually.

[Adams Wulff]

35. In Colorado, we had a caucus...

...200,000 people showed up.

Compare that to the 15,000 people who showed up in 2004.

I think that after the last 8 years, people know that the stakes are high, and they want to be heard, no matter what the process may be.