Legos™ Teaches Us How Iowa Caucuses

 Posted by at 2:41 pm  Politics
Feb 012016
 

Well, at least how the Democrats do it.  (Republicans use a secret ballot – you just write down a name.  Please note: You got to spell out T-R-U-M-P … and  NOT Hairball, The Bouffant Buffoon, Hair Furor, Mr. Wiggy Piggy, Pander Hair, Prima Donald or any other variants.  Oh, and BTW – damn right I want Trump to be the GOP nominee!)

Vermont Public Radio put together a cute little YouTube video of Legos characters showing how it works.  (The CC isn’t all that great, but enough to connect the dots.)

 

And there’s a little more detail at the Vermont Public Radio website:

To participate in the Democratic caucus in Iowa, a person must: 

  • Be 18 years old by the day of the general election. This cycle, that means if your 18th birthday is on or before Nov. 8, 2016, you can participate in the Iowa caucus. 
  • Be a registered Democrat. Technically the caucuses are "closed," meaning only party-members may participate, but according to the Iowa Democratic Party, it's possible to register as a Democrat on caucus night itself.
  • Be a resident in the precinct you plan to caucus in. While there is no minimum residency requirement, *Iowa defines residency as spending nights at your in-precinct address.*

 

It has a Link to a PDF explaining the arcane math used to divvy up actual delegates:

http://iowademocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/IDP-Caucus-Math-One-Pager.pdf

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  6 Responses to “Legos™ Teaches Us How Iowa Caucuses”

  1. jla says:
    February 1, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    Thanks Nameless-it does explain it well!

  2. Joanne Dixon says:
    February 1, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/3950989

    • Joanne Dixon says:
      February 1, 2016 at 5:49 pm

      Colorado used to caucus much like this, but so few people were showing up we weren't able to keep it.  So -Republicans hold a secret ballot?  Just like them to spend money!

  3. Joanne Dixon says:
    February 1, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    Well, the PBS post-caucus is over; the Dems results are still too close too call; the Rethugs came out Cruz 28, Trump 24, Rubio 23.  That's close enough for me to answer the poll "I had no clue" – which I could have admitted yesterday without knowing a thing.

    Regardless who gets the Republican nod, I would still feel securer with a third party candidate running, and NOT Bloomberg.  I've actually beem hoping Trump would be that third party candidate, but he sounded awfully sweet tonight.  For Trump.. No insults.  So I knew nothing before Iowa, and now I know less.

  4. Lona Goudswaard says:
    February 2, 2016 at 9:02 am

    While I'm known to open my mouth at every opportunity on a topic in American Politics, I'm a novice as far as the voting process goes. Until now I believed "caucus" to be just another word for "voting", that's how much I knew. Well, partly it is, but it is a very special form of voting and different between states and parties. So now, thanks to Lego and Nameless, I know how Iowa Democrats chose their favorite candidate. Apparently the Republicans in Iowa are so secretive there's nothing to tell.

    Thanks for explaining, Nameless and for cross-posting, Joanne.

  5. TomCat says:
    February 2, 2016 at 11:17 am

    Thanks Nameless!

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