2nd phase of Nevada caucus all mucked up.

[dkf]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/23/194928/069/970/462792

Chaos at the Nevada Caucuses
by DHinMI
Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 04:52:48 PM PST

You thought the Nevada caucuses happened in January? They did. But today the second stage of the Nevada Caucuses took place. Or is still taking place. Or is just colossally FUBAR.

This is what was supposed to happen:

Today, Democrats across the state will gather in county conventions for the next step in the process of choosing between U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Because the caucuses were nonbinding, delegates at the conventions will be able to change their minds about which candidate to support. That could influence how many delegates for each candidate ultimately go to the national convention...

While Clinton won the popular vote in Nevada, as well as the state's largest county, Obama captured most of the rest of the state giving him an edge in the number of national delegates here.

Since then, however, Obama has swept the last 11 contests, leading some to question whether Clinton's Nevada supporters might change their minds and back Obama.

Both campaigns have been working hard to ensure their supporters show up at the convention...

Also up for grabs are the 399 county delegates for former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who dropped out of the race last month.

What actually happened:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/23/203238/522/930/462816

Nevada Caucuses Suspended
by DHinMI
Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 05:39:47 PM PST

The caucus in Las Vegas has been suspended:

The Clark County convention wrapped around 4 p.m., after supporters from both campaigns voted to suspend the presidential delegate vote.

When convention chair Bill Stanley initially moved to suspend voting earlier in the afternoon, the assembled delegates revolted and voted the motion down. The campaigns then met with supporters in separate rooms to explain why suspending the vote was necessary.

The lights are up, the balloons are coming down and a horde of angry Democrats have left the building.

[DJ13]

1. "When convention chair Bill Stanley initially moved to suspend voting...."

Any ideas if he is a Clinton supporter?

Im thinking he wanted (and ultimately got) a suspension rather than see mass defections away from Hillary.

[Thrill]

2. I think you know the answer to that

[Alhena]

3. I support Obama, but there shouldn't be any defections ...

whatever delegates the voters gave Hillary at the caucus should be hers to keep.

[DJ13]

4. I support Obama, but there shouldn't be any defections ...

They are non-binding.

It wouldnt be right to force them to vote for someone they no longer support.

(Same as having SD's switch from Hillary to Obama.)

[Emit]

5. I got four calls today from friends at the convention in Reno

"Where the hell are you!" They all asked. :)



Just got off the phone in fact -- in a nutshell, a mess in Reno, too, but on a smaller scale.

But, after realignment, Obama got around 972 delegates and Clinton 683, or there abouts, for Washoe County, so I hear.

[dkf]

6. What was the original count?

Nevada's process sounds awfully confusing.

[Emit]

7. Roughly at 9 am

65 Edwards
505 Clinton
697 Obama

But not all the delegates were there and counted in yet.

Two folks I talked to throughout the day said that the proportions the candidates came in with (discounting Edwards) very roughly ended up similarly in the end, with the majority of Edwards going to Obama and boosting Obama's numbers in the final realignment. (Meaning, about a 55/37% Obama/Clinton and in the end 59/41% Obama/Clinton.)

Apparently, some of the Clinton delegates defected to Obama, but I can not fully verify that as the person who told me that cut out on her cell phone mid sentence and I haven't heard back from her. Also rumored is that somebody suggested initially to just split Edwards' delegates and divvy them out to each of the two candidates -- or something to that effect. That didn't go over too well with the Obama crowd, and a traditional realignment occurred.

The confusing part is not the math -- it's basic caucus stuff like Iowa's. It seems the biggest problem was the party not being experienced with running this kind of caucus, having to accommodate so many people (roughly 2000/2500 people showed up today in Reno) and organizing the counts, etc. We are used to less than 200 people at these things, and usually more like 50.

Some of the complaints I heard today were: The platform stuff was too long and complicated and they should have just told the crowd to vote the whole thing down and pass it along to the State convention. There were so many new people there that most of the crowd had no idea what was going on and it was long and cumbersome and the party didn't start out with any basic rules, procedures, etc. for the newcomers.

[dkf]

8. Did the 9am count match the original caucus day allocation?

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if the delegate numbers will change based on today.

[Emit]

9. They will change based on todays realignments

as I understand it, because Edwards' delegates realigned with either Obama or Clinton. I will likely find out more specifics tomorrow.

[dkf]

10. Thanks!

In this tight delegate race I can't believe more people aren't paying attention to this. We all go off when a super-delegate endorses and that is a single vote.

[Emit]

11. Here's what our local news reported

BO -- final count 972 which gives him 329 Delegates going to the next level
HC -- final count 683 which gives her 232 Delegates going to the next level

How that will then be whittled down to NV's final 25 delegates going to the Natl depends on the State Convention