# Iowa Caucus Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 4, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465 "2020-02-04T03:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/41 "2020-02-04T07:28:41Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If I were the conspiracy type, and I’m not, I’d suspicious that this whole debacle was a way of blunting Bernie’s momentum. Even when Bernie is likely to win or finish a strong second, it’s a conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/42 "2020-02-04T07:30:27Z")
This is so absurd I can’t help but to laugh. Jeez! I feel like this is a bad omen of many things to come for the Democratic party,. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/43 "2020-02-04T07:40:08Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > CNN had a live feed from Drake University, and they sent an “Undecided” delegate because a group of Booker supporters weren’t budging. Hey, uncommitted won in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/44 "2020-02-04T07:46:03Z")
Hopefully what this means is that the caucus system will not be used any longer. I understand the appeal: people working together, negotiating, American values in full flourish. The process is also discriminatory, however. It prevents a large number of people from participating by sheer logistics, which is… that’s right, voter suppression. Iowa can and should do better. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/45 "2020-02-04T08:12:37Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > You only had one job … > Seriously Iowa is in the public eye once every four years and they managed to mess it up. This is almost certainly just a stupid screwup, but it does show us how shaky out voting systems are. “It makes you think.” Hopefully it also sounds a death knell for anyone who was planning to expand a voting-app system to an even bigger scale on Election Day nationwide. That is begging for hacking or accusations of hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/46 "2020-02-04T08:28:44Z")
Good old Pete _‘I definitely didn’t work for the CIA’_ Buttigieg trying to steal the limelight with all the confusion going on and completely undermining a Sanders victory, I guess the good thing is Bidens results are looking disasterous, he isn’t a viable candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/47 "2020-02-04T08:32:33Z")
You will recall that a few years ago Iowa managed to tell Romney he won only to change it a week or so later. Rick Santorum was the big winner. Both of these facts seem to indicate that Iowa cannot be trusted to be so important in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/48 "2020-02-04T08:41:22Z")
Oh, and the _Des Moines Register_ screwed up their most important poll. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/49 "2020-02-04T09:10:08Z")
If Sanders’ numbers are correct (he released his campaign’s own internal count tonight), Biden may not even qualify for the next debate, if I understand the rules correctly. He’s at 12.3%, with Bernie at 29%, Buttigieg at 24%, and Warren at .21%. If those numbers are close to real, Biden is in big trouble. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/50 "2020-02-04T09:18:18Z")
Last time Trump got so hard there were urinating hookers in the room. If there is a split in the Dem party Trump wins in a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/51 "2020-02-04T09:54:08Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > first election machinery hack? I’m thinking “nah” but Probably not but ---- like you ----- just for some reason this time I suspect the DNC side. As I sit here at this hour of the AM my guess is that their preferred results were not the actual results. Being a Bernie fan last cycle and again this cycle (although Bloomberg has my attention) I trust them about as much as I trust Trump. :smack: And I am watching what happens in the course of the day for more than just the results. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/52 "2020-02-04T10:46:17Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Probably not but ---- like you ----- just for some reason this time I suspect the DNC side. As I sit here at this hour of the AM my guess is that their preferred results were not the actual results. Being a Bernie fan last cycle and again this cycle (although Bloomberg has my attention) I trust them about as much as I trust Trump. :smack: And I am watching what happens in the course of the day for more than just the results. The DNC has nothing to do with Iowa. Next conspiracy, please. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/53 "2020-02-04T10:50:15Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > Good old Pete _‘I definitely didn’t work for the CIA’_ Buttigieg trying to steal the limelight with all the confusion going on and completely undermining a Sanders victory, I guess the good thing is Bidens results are looking disasterous, he isn’t a viable candidate. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/54 "2020-02-04T10:54:35Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > If Sanders’ numbers are correct (he released his campaign’s own internal count tonight), Biden may not even qualify for the next debate, if I understand the rules correctly. He’s at 12.3%, with Bernie at 29%, Buttigieg at 24%, and Warren at .21%. > > If those numbers are close to real, Biden is in big trouble. That is not correct. There are multiple ways to qualify for the next debate including polling and picking up pledged delegates. Biden has the poll numbers already. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/55 "2020-02-04T10:58:39Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > first election machinery hack? I’m thinking “nah” but Wrong. There are no machines. People group by their preferred candidate in a caucus. They are counted and photos taken to verify this. The problem is in the communication of the numbers, not the actual mechanism of the caucuses. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/56 "2020-02-04T11:22:01Z")
had no idea Larry, Curly and Moe were alive and running the Dem caucus in Iowa ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/57 "2020-02-04T11:49:17Z")
I clicked on the news just now to discover that the Democratic caucus in Iowa was \*\*\*\*\*\*. The Ds should be \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*, \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* and **-** for this travesty. (Sorry not to be more explicit, but I’m still getting Warnings for insults.) Do any Americans still know how to do column addition? Aren’t there any dime stores in Iowa that sell pencils and paper? “I can’t add 7 plus 4 because my phone charger’s broken.” _ **Shame!** _ ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/58 "2020-02-04T12:05:25Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I clicked on the news just now to discover that the Democratic caucus in Iowa was \*\*\*\*\*\*. The Ds should be \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*, \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* and **-** for this travesty. (Sorry not to be more explicit, but I’m still getting Warnings for insults.) > > Do any Americans still know how to do column addition? Aren’t there any dime stores in Iowa that sell pencils and paper? “I can’t add 7 plus 4 because my phone charger’s broken.” > > _ **Shame!** _ From what I can gather the problem was not in adding up the numbers. The problem was in sending those results to the state Democratic headquarters. ETA. ISTM that this does show Democrats are more disorganized than I thought. I am now a lot more worried about a Trump victory. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/59 "2020-02-04T12:12:03Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > … Being a Bernie fan last cycle and again this cycle (although Bloomberg has my attention) … That’s an interesting and uncommon mix! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465/60 "2020-02-04T12:29:44Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > ETA. ISTM that this does show Democrats are more disorganized than I thought. I am now a lot more worried about a Trump victory. To be fair, it means the Iowa Democratic leadership is disorganized. There’s no evidence that the DNC is involved. On the other, someone on CNN just actually said, “You had ONE job…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iowa-caucus-discussion/847465.md?page=4)