It’s freaking beautiful where I sit (Greater Boston — in the 50s, sunny, a delight). I and the familial swarm will be heading out soon for a walk around a fair chunk of the Emerald Necklace. (We won’t be going to the Arnold Arboretum today, but it has a special place in my heart, as the site where my dad proposed to my mum).
All of that tedious personal detail is another way of saying that I’ll be doing my best to ignore the minute-by-minute breathlessness of the GOS types on the Nevada results. But that doesn’t mean the blog should!
The NYT’s results page is here. Nothing yet, but early exits are apparently starting to come in.
Have at it, have fun, and be nice to each other. (Or at least nicer than SC Republicans — which, I admit, is a low bar.*)
*That should probably read “nicer than Ted Cruz” — which is a bar low enough I’m not sure an ant could limbo beneath it.
Image: William Hogarth, Humours of an Election: scene 3, The Polling, 1754-1755
Corner Stone
Ted Cruz is the fucking worst.
pluky
Living in MetroWest, I have to keep looking at the calendar to remind myself that is still February. But after last winter, I’m not complaining!
redshirt
And up here in Mordor we had 15 minutes of crystal blue sky before Mt. Doom fired up and now all is gloom. It took 30 minutes. Remarkable.
zzyzx
There are results already?
Baud
I wonder who Cliven Bundy caucused for.
Oh. That’s right. He can’t!
Thanks, Obama.
Amir Khalid
@zzyzx:
I’m looking at the Live Elections scoreboard on TPM’s front page. Nope, nothing yet.
daves910
Caucusing here in Reno on a beautiful day when I’d rather be in the mountains snowshowing-18 inches of fresh snow,
My caucus spot is on UNR which is a lonely place for a Hillary, the Bernies are probably 85% or more.
Las Vegas of course is where the action is, but at least at UNR the turnout is very good, looks like more than in ’08 and skewing much younger,
We are now doing the delegate dance, sigh, I hate caucuses, so undemocratic.
TallPete
:0
maya
I has a puzzlement: Why don’t the repub candidates bring their favorite piece to their debates, lay them fully loaded safeties off on their rostrums, and let the clips fall where they may? I’d like to believe that their 2nd Amendment, NRA luvin’ followers must be dying to know what each candidate selects as his preferred weapon of self-defense – the ultimate manifestation of the true conservative character, no? Would certainly boost gun sales too. Why must Obama do all the heavy lifting for the personal armament industrial complex?
To paraphrase the standard rwnj maxim; a well armed debate is a polite debate.
PsiFighter37
I find it rather amusing that the MSM is once again piping up with articles about Rubio finishing a ‘strong third’ in SC.
When the fuck does Marco have to actually win something?
Also, I am bothered how they gushed over the tableau of Rubio, Nikki Haley, and Tim Scott being the face of the ‘new’ Republican Party. Republicans of non-white descent are like fucking unicorns to the MSM. Go take a look at the Democratic Party’s representatives, which have been plenty more representative of America for decades at this point.
Amir Khalid
@maya:
I can well imagine their security doodz suffering heart attacks at the mere mention of such a thing.
Isobel
After how “polite” the last debate was, things could get ….. Interesting, to say the least. I’m rooting for injuries.
JPL
The results are going to be close according to MSNBC.. oooh
Thoroughly Pizzled
I loathe Ted Cruz with the fire of one thousand suns, but I’d be more disappointed in the U.S. if we elected Rubio in November. The man is pathetic.
Dr. Bloor
@maya: to paraphrase Curly from City Slickers, primary season ain’t over yet.
HeartlandLiberal
Well, it is 73 degrees here in Bloomington, Indiana. Bright and sunny. Neighbor just helped me move an incredibly heavy dead 21 year old Nordic Track treadmill from my lower level up the slope around the house to the end of the garage for pickup Tuesday morning. It finally died, after many repairs and many years of heavy use, not worth repairing again. Already have a new heavy duty model, which should be MUCH quieter, on order.
Going to the Indiana vs. Purdue game at Assembly Hall this evening. You know IU basketball is having a resurgence when you look on StubHub at your section, and find you could sell your seats to tonight’s game for over $400 EACH. Maybe I will ask my friend to reimburse me based on that price! Nay. Just kidding.
Earlier this week Nebraska played here, and we won by 16 points It was not easy, but it was a fun game to watch. After this we play Iowa there, and last home game is here against Maryland.
Germy
“Just for a thought experiment, imagine for a second: Phil Robertson, Ambassador to the United Nations,” Cruz said Friday at a rally in Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to CNN.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Thoroughly Pizzled: I know what you mean, Cruz at least has an ethos
at the same time, I also agree with Yglesias that Wee War-mongery Marco is more dangerous than Trump.
BillinGlendaleCA
@maya: jeb? has his new piece.
scav
I’m going to concentrate ferociously on the simple joys of open windows. Actual Sunlight (with shadows!) and birdsong as bonuses.
Amir Khalid
@PsiFighter37:
With only six candidates left, of whom four are still in contention (to be generous), third is plainly not a strong finish. Marco is the least unappealing of the remaining damp squibs of the Republican party establishment. It’s only because Der Donald and Ted are so unpalatable that the party establishment and its mouthpieces in the media are desperately talking up Rubio’s not-all-that-good chances.
raven
@HeartlandLiberal: Someone from Indiana bought two of my Masters Practice tix fro $400 each.
Gimlet
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: “Wee War-mongery Marco is more dangerous than Trump. ”
I already wrote about Donald Trump being asked about who is advising him on foreign policy and the military and his answer being that he watches a lot of TV shows about it. But he did finally, when pressed, name John Bolton
SFAW
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Is that the one with “Please (don’t) shoot!” engraved on top?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Really, Reno?
maya
@BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, but has he fired, cleaned and oiled it? Can he field strip it in less than a minute? Show us his target shot- groupings? Demonstrated his quick draw abilities?
I thought these were the important stuff of real he-mans.
Or is it just for show.
SuzieC
Results coming in!
raven
@maya: sheeeet
BillinGlendaleCA
@maya: Gawd, it’s not like you actually have to know how to use the damned thing.
ETA: What raven said.
Iowa Old Lady
It looks close. It’s hard to tell with caucuses. In 2008, Clinton had more votes than Obama but he had more delegates. Something to do with running harder in rural areas.
PsiFighter37
@Amir Khalid: Yeah, I just hope that he doesn’t sneak into 2nd, because then the media will be slobbering all over his knob the next few weeks.
I actually think the best outcome would be Cruz narrowly winning again – gives him more staying power, and I actually think we’d do better against Cruz, just because he is so hated by people within his own party. As long as he and the Donald are 1-2 tonight, that is a win for the Democrats.
As for Nevada, I hope Hillary wins. I am getting so goddamn sick and annoyed at the people who ignore the very rational reasons why Bernie will get destroyed in the general election because they want REVOLUTION!, and the fact that no one has actually bothered pressing Bernie on how he gets the money for all his programs, or any detail on them. The media has been treating him like a Republican candidate in that sense – not bothering to follow up on the facts at all.
hitchhiker
Brilliant 50-ish sunny day in Seattle. Our living carpet is a perfect cat beach right now.
Not gonna spoil this bliss by obsessing over primaries, nuh-uh. The numbers will be what they are, and they’ll still be that tomorrow.
Forget the box! Go outside.
Hal
I am in no way worried about Marco Rubio. If he is the republican presidential candidate he will wilt under pressure like he always does. Either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will demolish him in debates. What irritates me to no end is all the critics of Obama’s weakness as a candidate ignore the Rubio is a poor man’s version of Obama. Peggy Noonan’s hot mic comment that republicans were terrible at what she called identity politics will prove to be true if Rubio is the republican presidential nominee.
Origuy
I learned yesterday that in British elections, if you spoil your paper ballot by marking an X for more than one candidate, all of the candidates for that office have to meet personally to try to determine your intent or agree to throw it out. Of course, their elections are usually only for MPs, not the two dozen or so we have to vote for.
Micheline
Rumor has it that a lot Republicans are switching registration to vote in today’s caucus.
Ruckus
“nicer than Ted Cruz” — which is a bar low enough I’m not sure an ant could limbo beneath it.
If little teddy sets the bar for nice, every other living thing would need the appropriate sized tunnel boring machine to get under it.
Iowa Old Lady
@Micheline: Maddow had a segment on this. If they’re already registered as Republicans, they can switch to Democrat at the door today and still vote in the Republican caucus on Tuesday because that switch won’t have caught up with them.
Gimlet
AP, 14% reporting:
Bernie 50.3% – Hillary 49.4%
23% reporting
Bernie 50.6% – Hillary 49.3%
24% reporting
Hillary 51% – Bernie 48.9%
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
I am finally listening to Hamilton, because I was getting tired of not being able to look Mnemosyne in the eye.
Amir Khalid
@PsiFighter37:
Very close so far between Bernie and Hillary. My guess is that she’ll come out of this with a growing lead in superdelegates, although it will be tighter in terms of pledged delegates — not enough, really, to make a case for the SDs to switch their votes.
Batgirl
@Micheline: just saw this happen at a caucus site in Summerlin
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: In the GA primary, you can vote for either party, but only once. If Cruz is close in SC, I might vote Trump. Cruz scares the heck outta me. Right now Hillary has a 99 percent chance of winning the primary in GA.
JPL
@Gimlet: MSNBC was already saying Sanders is a formidable candidate cuz he is running strong. They hinted though Hillary will probably win.
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: The situation in Nevada is why both parties should primary/caucus on the same day.
Nate Dawg
Howard Fineman is such a great example of the Establishment Douchepundit.
“Cruz hasn’t broken out of his base!” — yes, but he won Iowa
“Trump has a low ceiling” — high enough to win NH
“Rubio is the only one expanding his appeal” — not enough to win anywhere
It’s so obnoxious to see pundits attempt to craft a narrative pleasing to establishment elites.
I hate Trump, Cruz, and Ruboitoy, but can you at least let the voters have a say?
Gimlet
@JPL:
Demographics will once again be interesting.
Ruckus
@PsiFighter37:
Two things here.
How many people have any idea how the government works? Or really cares? And if they don’t know, or care, being thoughtful/intelligent/realistic probably won’t convince them. They want a leader, and the one that everyone else turns their head and listens to (the loud one!), that’s a leader in their book.
I think we should get over the media not actually acting like real journalists. Most of them haven’t been doing this for my entire life and in the last 2 or 3 decades they’ve just been more up front about this. They are in it for the money we pay them to stand in front of us and say nothing. And as long as we continue to pay them, they will continue to spend the least amount of effort to earn our money.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel: And?*
*(I thought of going with the very Hamilton “So?” but realized it would need translating for non-Hamilmaniacs.)
Gimlet
AP, 32% reporting
Hillary 51.7% – Bernie 48.2%
Capri
Just heard from my daughter who caucused in Reno. She was extremely excited to go because she’s only lived in states too red (IN) or too blue (MA) for folks to care about. The process took a long time because some Bernie supports came in, voted, and then left. Lots of calls to the “central office” to see if that was legit.
GOP crossovers perhaps?
At any rate, total was 6 Bernie 4 Hilary. Both she and her husband came away as alternate delegates.
Amir Khalid
I’ve heard that Nevada is one of the states where Bernie is strongest. But with about a third of the state’s precincts reporting, Hillary seems to be just shading it over him. He’s already lost Iowa, narrowly, where he was supposed to be stronger than she. Is he already starting to fade?
Baud
@Capri: Good for your daughter.
Baud
@Amir Khalid: Let’s wait to see the final results before we start speculating again.
dww44
@JPL: and that’s with no ground game. At least not where I live.
Wrb
@Amir Khalid: No, it is a state in which he was quite weak, but has caught up dramatically. Just the few months ago the Clinton campaign was calling it part of their firewall.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
You’re no fun. Pout.
Gimlet
@Amir Khalid:
“I’ve heard that Nevada is one of the states where Bernie is strongest. ”
Polls point to a photo finish in Nevada where Clinton had been expected to walk away with a lion’s share of the 35 delegates at stake. A 23-point lead over Sanders in July slipped to 20 points in December and has now evaporated to only 5 points.
Frankensteinbeck
@JPL:
Sanders is a formidable candidate. I absolutely give him that. Who would have expected that he would be a real contender when he started? That doesn’t change the fact that he’s not winning.
Brachiator
@Gimlet:
Holy smokes! El Viejito is hanging in there.
@Amir Khalid
He wasn’t supposed to have a chance, according to early polling. Results so far are competitive.
Frankensteinbeck
@Gimlet:
In other words, yes. This is one of the states where Bernie is strongest, where he’s had sustained momentum.
Baud
@Amir Khalid: You don’t have to live in the same country as these people.
redshirt
Is South Carolina today too? That’s a more interesting race for me. I watch from my perch to see when Donald can cross a line that will cost him votes. Is it outright blaming W. for 9/11? We shall see.
Is it insulting the Pope? I’m sure that would he increase his Catholic vote. Topsy turvy.
Iowa Old Lady
@redshirt: SC is today, but that’s a primary so people have until the polls close to vote, meaning we won’t hear until after 8 EST.
Amir Khalid
@redshirt:
It seems to me that the American Catholics supporting Trump are the ones who think this new Pope is a liberal squish.
JPL
@dww44: My town is pretty conservative in national elections. The reason I say that is because they are very concerned on the local level about zoning, education, recycling, and the environment. In 2008 the President had an office not far from me. It was definitely cool.
Gin & Tonic
@Gimlet: Do you ever find yourself wondering why there’s a “link” button right at the top of the comment box?
different-church-lady
I feel bad. It was only a mere six days ago the high was 6 degrees and Global Warming was FAKE FAKE FAKE!!! But today it is very real and we’re all doomed.
Applejinx
So how’s the Clinton firewall doing? :)
This time I don’t know a thing as I’m not out there in a field office working. Guess I’ll check back later to hear about how it was really a Sanders firewall all along. One thing about it: the closeness of these races is exciting!
It seems like we have two potential winners but for very different reasons. I’m proud of the Bernie team out there, which includes my NH Sanders boss Megan (who is awesome)
Wrb
A small example of why I’m convinced that Clinton is a terrible candidate for this year, based on the attitudes of my rural cummunity. Yes, she is toxic to those who understand that their lives were destroyed by deregulation, NAFTA, and Goldman. But with thirty years of triangulating she’s scratched a lot of backs, some of which scratching has earned her fierce enemies the lvery liberal local organic farming group has come out arguing that the organic farmers must vote fore anyone, even a Republican, other than Hillary, because of her history of ties to Monsanto. Apparently this meme is on fire among organic farming and gardening groups.
CaseyL
Drilling down a bit on the NYT results page, the counties Sanders won have mostly finished reporting. Las Vegas County, which is in Clinton’s column so far, has only reported out 383 of 1022 precincts.
yellowdog
@Iowa Old Lady: SC polls close at 7.
gogol's wife
@SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel:
How do you like it?
I think it’s a masterpiece.
The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016
@Frankensteinbeck: Sanders losing by three is good news for John McCain.
Amir Khalid
@Applejinx:
With 55% reported in, Hillary looks to be increasing her slight lead over Bernie.
Baud
@Wrb:
Do no Republicans have ties to Big Ag, or is this one of those special rules that applies only to Dems?
JPL
Fox News has projected Nevada for Clinton. It’s not hard to see why given the vote left in Clark County, where Clinton has won so far.
Brachiator
@efgoldman:
This is true. But the public face of Team Clinton emphasized the early polling and the demographics as running in their favor.
Not so much. It’s still early, but Sanders may turn this into a real race.
JMG
@efgoldman: Really, members of fantasy pro golf leagues would be a more effective pressure group.
Wrb
@Baud: yes, big ag has voted almost solidly republican since Roosevelt died. This is a weirder micro event, however. Very liberal small scale organic farmers saying that they won’t support Hillary nohow. I think may be an illustration of a larger pattern, where years of seemingly pragmatic, realpolitik decisions, are remembered and cost the candidate.
Baud
@Wrb: Yeah, I can somewhat respect a voter not voting because neither candidate is good in a position they care about. I will never respect double standards held against Democrats, if that’s in fact what this is.
The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016
@Brachiator: Clinton just bagged Nevada, and she’s averaging a 20 point lead in SC polls. I remain more convinced the real race is over by Ohio.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator:
different-church-lady
@Wrb:
If that larger pattern is “barely informed petulance” then yes.
Gex
@different-church-lady: That does seem to be a large pattern this year.
Wrb
@Baud: Monsanto and GMOs seem to be everything to her, they are what will destroy the world, so they are determinative, for her and apparently many with who she affiliates.
jl
@The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016: Another close win by HRC, like in IA. Media will howl that she is doomed. Glad only a week of that nonsense until another primary and more actual results.
Percentages at the TPM link of live results add to 100.01 percent.
Baud! 2016! comes in with -0.01 of the vote? Expected outcome for the first virtual candidate?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@different-church-lady:
LOL.
MazeDancer
Wonder if media will suggest Bernie needs to shake up his campaign in the gloom and doom they would have been giving Hillary?
PPP tweeted they have Hillary leading 11 out of the next 13 primaries.
Chris Matthews wondering why “the trajectory heading towards Sanders” wasn’t real. He and Chuck Todd started trashing Hillary’s campaign two minutes after the caucus doors closed. What are they going to do to sabotage her now?
WaterGirl
@Iowa Old Lady: Wouldn’t that be, um, voter fraud?
Gimlet
Huffington Post shows 67% of precincts in
Hillary 4059 (52.2%)
Bernie 3707 (47.7%)
That’s not a lot of people.
Brachiator
@Wrb:
Then the Democrats have fvcked up. What could they do to recover? I like Sanders, but I think that overall he is incompetent. I don’t have any faith that he could do much more than rattle his already tired nostrums about free education and single payer.
Organic farmers voting for a Republican. OK. Monsanto would be happier than a pig in genetically modified shit. HRC may be a terrible candidate. Dump her while it’s still early, if there is an alternative to be found.
But this whining about Clinton’s triangulating ways is self-defeating, especially when it turns to fantasies that any Republican, even Trump, could give a fvck about anything that a Democrat might want.
JMG
OK, so the media have called Nevada for Clinton. What do the TV on-cameras do at halftime before South Carolina polls close? Slip out for a smoke? Take cold showers (advised for Chris Matthews). Or do they listen to rousing pep talks from their producers? Go out there and win it for Tim, MSNBC!
Baud
@WaterGirl: IOKIYAR.
@Gimlet: Yeah, that can’t be the number of voters.
The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016
@jl: Crap, they found my caucus for Baud from Ohio. I gotta go. You never saw me.
jl
@MazeDancer: Matthews having trouble deciding what and who he is going to go apeshit over?
John D.
@Gimlet: That’s not people. That’s county-level delegates.
Disgruntled former Baud supporter
@Wrb: Could hurt her this November in Oregon, but not enough to give a Republican our pithy 7 EVs. Lots of local organic farms here in the mid-Willamette Valley, but they’ll vote Stein, not Trump. Hopefully Portland will turn out for Hillary, maybe a visit from President Obama would help ;)
Amir Khalid
TPM has called the Nevada caucus for Hillary at 67.4% reported in, by a margin of 52.2% to 47.7%.
different-church-lady
@JMG: One word: TWEET!
jl
From what I’ve heard of exit polls on the news, real divide between HRC and Sanders concerns age and political ideology, not racial identification or ethnicity.Will be interesting to see if that holds up in other states.
Renie
@Wrb: You do know her name is HILLARY Clinton not BILL Clinton.
dmsilev
So, in advance of all of the spin from Rubio and his media enablers, remember that in the deep dark past of just a couple of weeks ago, Team Rubio’s announced strategy was 3-2-1, finish third in Iowa, 2nd in New Hampshire, and win in South Carolina. Let’s see how that holds up…
jl
@JMG: Make up some expectations that HRC or Sanders did or didn’t meet, decide which line will get most attention and natter about that endlessly.
Iowa Old Lady
@Baud: I thought I read the popular vote wouldn’t be reported, so maybe that’s delegates? In which case, it’s a lot.
@WaterGirl: From Maddow’s report, it was unclear to me exactly how illegal it was to vote in both Nevada caucuses. Surely it has to be, and parties were threatening bad things.
jl
@dmsilev: Some BJ commenter (I forget who) predicted Rubio would find himself with a 3-4-5 strategy. That sounds nice to me.
Amir Khalid
@jl:
I counted up the percentages with 69.72% reported in (H 52.2%, B 47.7%) and got 99.9% total. Baud needs to up his game.
ETA: The percentages have now been corrected to add up to 100%.
Baud
@different-church-lady: Agreed. And good for him. I’d much rather this than people whining about Hillary’s coronation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016
@dmsilev: Rubio finishing third is also good news for John McCain.
Honestly, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes second. Trump has been bullying Cruz out of his lunch money.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
I am the .1%.
Gimlet
@Baud: I am the .1%.
Vote total?
different-church-lady
@Baud: Like they’re not going to go ahead and do that anyway?
yellowdog
A tweet from America Ferrara:
Harrah’s casino site- Bernie supporters chant “English-only” to stop civil rights leader @DoloresHuerta from providing Spanish translation.
Possibly Rethug ratfvckers but disgusting nevertheless.
Baud
@different-church-lady: Oh yeah, I forgot. Memes never die.
Baud
@efgoldman: I believe Oregon is a hotbed for the anti-vax movement.
The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016
@Wrb: In other words, those who are white and affluent enough to not really care who gets into the White House. They’ll be fine, either way.
dmsilev
@Gimlet: It’s better than Jim Gilmore got.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
How long did it take for ‘Obama caves’ to die?
Wrb
@The Sheriff Endorses Baud 2016: no, these are people who are just scraping by, if that. High levels of despair, high levels of suicide, little chance of sending your kid to college.
Baud
@efgoldman: I’m a little surprised about MA.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Frankensteinbeck: that one’s gonna outlive Betty White and Sixty Minutes
Wrb
@Wrb: but of course they celebrate the hundred million plus the Clintons have snagged from their public service, and think that Hillary deserved hundreds of thousands for a one hour speech because she’s just so damn much funnier than Tina Fey.
Frankensteinbeck
@efgoldman:
Yes. Like I said, Iowa and Nevada were good states for Sanders. They weren’t important to Hillary, but Sanders had to have them.
Baud
@Wrb: Their vote, their choice.
Baud
@efgoldman: Gotcha. I figured the Boston machine would make the difference.
Amir Khalid
When does the delegate count get announced?
Frankensteinbeck
@Wrb:
‘Deserved’? I don’t know, and don’t care. ‘Was charging what a wide variety of groups thought was worth paying?’ Yes, obviously so. People like having a former first lady, senator, book writer, and secretary of state speak at their engagements. Whether or not you or I think that’s worth $200,000 doesn’t matter. People who pay for those speakers do.
dr. bloor
@Wrb: Gotta love the strength of their principles. Take a chance on putting a guy in office who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about economic disparity, funding mental health care, or affordable education to teach that witch a lesson.
Heliopause
FWIW in 2008 it was Clinton 50.8, Obama 45.1
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Tweety lamenting the disappearance of wet tee shirt contests in Vegas
ETA; Professional Catholic Tweety says he doesn’t think the Pope should have “stayed in his lane” wrt Trump, “render unto Cesar…” etc. Don’t remember him saying that when Dolan, Chaput and others meddled very directly in partisan politics.
Wrb
@efgoldman: how does describing this thing that is actually happening, which you no doubt wish wasn’t happening, render me an idiot? You are sounding a bit petulant.perhaps you should take a walk.
Baud
@Heliopause: Interesting. Thanks.
jl
@Amir Khalid: Huh!? I smell caucus vote hanky panky. Where is the Baud! 2016! 0.01 (or -0.01?) of the vote? Reid Machine has it in for Baud?
Dem caucus scandal. Let’s see if Matthews yells about that.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
REVOLUTION!
Disgruntled former Baud supporter
@efgoldman: All seven of them. And odds are, one of them has measles. ;)
BillinGlendaleCA
@Renie: From what I’ve read here, NO.
cckids
@daves910:
Hi neighbor .
I completely agree with the anti-caucus sentiment. 4 1/2 hours after getting in line, we are finally done. I couldn’t post from the school because my phone couldn’t connect once we got in. What a fucked-up process. It seems designed to create animosity between Dems. And a HUUUUGE amount of irritation on all sides.
We had 97 voters packed into a typical elementary school classroom built for 30 children. Plus several people had bravely brought their kids, so a total of around 105 bodies, 35-40 chairs, no windows or AC. It was over 80 degrees very quickly. 2 people had to leave with claustrophobic-driven panic attacks. Neither precinct captain seemed to comprehend just what they were supposed to do; how to run the votes, etc. Forms were lost, then found. Everyone got hotter, thirstier & more short-tempered. THEN we got to vote :)
One very aggravating Berniebro type was walking around filming everyone & everything, loudly proclaiming that it was needed to prevent fraud. Most of us adults told him there was enough confusion & disinformation that fraud wasn’t needed to get confusing results, and to chill a bit.
But in the end, we voted, 57-40 for Hillary. There didn’t seem to be hard feelings from the Bernie side. I’d say 95% of the people there loudly affirmed that they’d be voting Democratic in the fall, no matter what. The loud holdouts will “write in Bernie” if necessary. So, there’s that.
And, now I’m a delegate to the county convention.
raven
Umberto Eco Dead At 84
Applejinx
Well all righty then. Onward. (re: primaries, not Eco)
:)
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
DIRTY TRICKS!!
MazeDancer
@cckids:
Much appreciate the on-the-scene report. Democracy in action!
Baud
@Wrb:
I can’t speak for efgoldman, but it is frustrating to hear about people who claim to be liberal talking about leaving the fight after everything that’s been happening for so many years.
Frankensteinbeck
@cckids:
Yeah, I think the ‘Won’t vote for Hillary’ contingent is extremely loud, but insignificantly small. I’ve only heard one ‘Would vote for Hillary but not Bernie’ at all, and that was a drive-by. We’ll be good. The internet is a megaphone, that’s all.
Baud
@cckids: Congrats. And thank you.l for participating. Right now, I feel like that must be acknowledged.
Capri
@Brachiator: All this conflating Bill’s track record as president decades ago with Hilary while ignoring her own accomplishments pisses me off. Did she give Monsanto special breaks when she was governor of NY? She she hawk GMO’s as secretary of state?
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL!!
different-church-lady
@Baud: Huge number of organic farmers in Boston.
FlipYrWhig
@Wrb: Oh, so your friends are _stupid_. That’s a surprisingly strong demographic on the D side this year.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
ESTABLISHMENT!!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@cckids: there was a nugget of actual info on Tweety’s show (I am feeling too tired and lazy to to sit up and reach the remote to change the channel, though the just announced coming of Brian Williams will give the motivation I need): state Dems have tried to introduce primaries, but R’s block it b/c parties pay for caucus, state pays for primary.
Frankensteinbeck
@Capri:
Don’t you know? Wives agree with their husbands on everything, and are basically interchangeable. Certainly that came up a lot with ‘Bill had an affair, therefor Hillary is untrustworthy.’
different-church-lady
@cckids:
I predict a genuine Republican nominee will cure most of them of that impulse.
raven
@Baud: Fuck em.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@maya:
Very late, but I did see what you did there.
BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
The nakedness and fart jokes tend to put off the devout Mormon crowd.
FlipYrWhig
@different-church-lady:
I think I just had an actual guffaw at that.
Anne Laurie
New post up top (hopscotch Cole’s b-ball thread) with preliminary Nevada results…
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS!!
randy khan
@Gimlet: It’s actually delegates to the county conventions, not people who caucused. I’m not sure there’s any tally of caucus-goers (and there wasn’t in Iowa).
cckids
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Gotta say, before I experienced a caucus, I’d agree. After seeing one ( and the staggering lack of training for the precinct captains), I fully understand.
As I’ve said often today, what a fucked up system.
Disgruntled former Baud supporter
@Capri: Apparently the Monsanto ties meme is complete BS, unlike real positions Sec. Clinton has filled over the years which sound questionable to lefties (like sitting on the Board of Walmart back in the day…)
BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman:
Is he related to Bernie?
cckids
@Micheline:
Anyone switching registration to participate in this cluster-fuck are SERIOUSLY committed to their program, I’ll say that for them.
Gvg
People who hate Monsanto shouldn’t want a republican appointing Supreme Court justice’s. Hillary is not as corporate as the whole Ayn Rand influenced GOP. Sometimes people get foolishly mad so it’s possible, but most of them must know better.
Wrb
@FlipYrWhig: @FlipYrWhig: so we shall win elections with only the votes of the brilliant? But truly, people in rural communities who believe that they were hurt by the continuum of policies that ran through the Reagan/Clinton administrations aren’t being stupid. That is what happened. Now, it might be true that the losses are now irreversible, and they should abandon all hope- except for the hope of someday serving dinner to their betters, but I have trouble joining those who war against and kneecap this hope.
Geeno
@Wrb: Here’s a knife. Slit your throat and watch me not care. Just don’t be gurgling at me about what smart call you made.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: @gogol’s wife:
I’ve listened to Act One, will listen to Act Two tomorrow. I like it but will have to go through three or four rehearings before I am likely to start really loving it. It is just completely out of my musical wheelhouse, so right now my ears and brain are simply trying to get used to the rap idiom. But I do like what I’ve heard so far.
Disgruntled former Baud supporter
@Gvg: I’m not a Monsanto fan, but I am not a fan of BS lies and rumors either. Hillary Clinton has never sat on the Board of Monsanto and does not have any financial ties with the corporation other than a single shared lobbyist.
FlipYrWhig
@Wrb: Well, if they’re taking their distaste for Monsanto out on Hillary Clinton, they’re misinformed, see above; and if they’re just generally icked out by Hillary Clinton and casting around for bullshit to base it on, they’re assholes.
Wrb
@FlipYrWhig: such lack of empathy helpful in winning an election?
Anne Laurie
@cckids:
Congratulations, and thank you for your service!
cckids
@MazeDancer:
I’ve gotta say, it felt like one of the least small-d democratic things I’ve participated in. The fact that everyone has to pick a side, rather than having a secret ballot, seems deeply wrong. In our room, the undecideds (all 3 of them), had to go into the center of the room & have a representative from both sides talk at them to try to change their minds. So, so weird.
SiubhanDuinne, Annoying Scoundrel
@efgoldman:
It is a Hamiltonian Event Horizon.
Steeplejack (phone)
@efgoldman:
I suspect head trauma from the nuns is part of the reason he is the way he is.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I think I read in Al Giordano’s post today that Obama won more delegates in 2008, though.
Brachiator
@Capri:
Good point. And I think you mean senator from NY here, not governor.
HOWEVER.
At times HRC has tried to sell her time as First Lady (to Governor and President Clinton) as part of her training to make her president material. She has also implied being involved in discussions and decisions. Her position is unique to a degree, but neither she nor her supporters can have it both ways.
satby
@Baud: @cckids: What Baud said! Sounds way worse than a simple primary vote, thanks for hanging in there!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@cckids: Things in the wrong boxes, eh, that happens. It’s the attempt at adding up the numbers that got me.
Bostonian
@efgoldman: The political machine in Boston seems mostly to be about mayoral and city council politics (judging from who knocks on my door and why). And as for traditional sharp elbow politics, don’t imagine Wu didn’t get where she is without them. Just ask Matt O’Malley. Wu is both one of Mayor Menino’s political offspring and one of Warren’s former students. She’s got a future here.
Back to the machine anyway, it doesn’t get orders flowed down from the DNC, and so I haven’t seen any push for Hillary here in the city. The DNC isn’t popular at all at the state party level; our vice chairwoman called it a dictatorship just last year. I see more enthusiasm for Bernie in Boston and other parts of MA (and I don’t know any actual students anymore, I’m talking about middle-aged to old folks) than for Hillary, and I would be very surprised if Bernie didn’t win here. Remember that we are the state who sent Elizabeth Warren to the Senate; I think many people here would be happy with more politicians of her stripe.
Honestly, if I could see anybody building a statewide machine here, it would be Warren.
No One You Know
@maya: Well, unless Trump shot someone on stage. It’s not much more public than Fifth Avenue, amirite?
No One You Know
@Iowa Old Lady: I had never thought of this practice as voter fraud, before now.