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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / More Iowa Caucus Open Thread (with DMR Results Link)

More Iowa Caucus Open Thread (with DMR Results Link)

by Anne Laurie|  February 3, 202010:02 pm| 123 Comments

This post is in: 2020 Elections, Open Threads

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Actual Iowa voter:

ME: Please don't take the caucus as holy writ
POLITICAL MEDIA: y tho
ME: Unless you're an activist, participating is like a root canal, which impacts type of voter & turnout
PM: sweet, activists are quotable
ME: It's impossible to parse
PM: you mean I can write any story I want? https://t.co/YV6RewDSTd

— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) February 3, 2020

While I’m sure there will be breathless coverage on every channel today and tonight, if you would like to forgo the punditry and spin just click on the link below tonight to see the results. #IACaucus #IowaCaucuses https://t.co/mJlnn82vz4

— Maya Contreras (@mayatcontreras) February 3, 2020


Right now, there are a total of *no* results on the DMRegister‘s tidy results page.

The NYTimes has any amount of breathless explanations of its elaborate ‘four needle’ wall-to-wall predictions coverage, where they are hoping bigly that Trump’s preferred opponent will sweep.

I’m gonna stay with the DMRegister, and I suggest y’all do the same.

The idea that there’s more than one way to determine the winner of Iowa was invented roughly three days ago and it deserves to be called out for the ratfucking it is. It’s designed to sow discord and create Dems In Disarray stories at the cost of the winner’s legitimacy.

— The Grinch Who Stole Selzer (@agraybee) February 3, 2020

Remember the 2012 Iowa where the lead shifted from Cain to Bachmann to Ron Paul before settling on Santorum for the win? Good times.

— Jim Antle (@jimantle) February 3, 2020

Big drop in campaign coverage on the evening newscasts in the run-up to Iowa https://t.co/v8gy5tmKbR pic.twitter.com/xXLxFyJEfu

— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) February 3, 2020

Yes, but if they don't do that then they won't be able to hit the downtown bars after filing https://t.co/OmXNBeAQjh

— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) February 3, 2020

2016 PTSD explains everything about the race to date and I don't see that changing after Iowa. No Dem is going to be remotely comfortable until 1/20/21, if then. https://t.co/g6SXtidGTA

— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) February 3, 2020

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Previous Post: « Iowa Caucus Update
Next Post: Late Night Open Thread: Iowa Is Just Blatantly F*cking With Us, Now »

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    February 3, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    Michael Bennet is in the lead with 0%

    That was unexpected!!

    Seriously, I’m surprised at some of the gnashing of teeth downstairs….

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  2. 2.

    dr. bloor

    February 3, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    Here’s my explainer about how there are actually 3 DIFFERENT WAYS TO COUNT THE VOTE IN IOWA and why you should care about this.

    Actually, “3 DIFFERENT WAYS TO COUNT THE VOTE” is a pretty compelling argument for not giving a flying fuck about the results. When did Nate become a clickbaiting doink?

  3. 3.

    Juice Box

    February 3, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    I’m playing the nightly game of fetch and tug with the puppy. It’s substantially more interesting than MSNBC.

  4. 4.

    Marcopolo

    February 3, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    Fuckin disarrayed Dems!

    The R’s have already picked their winner in their caucus tonight…

    /s

    Had a lovely 2 hours writing GOTV postcards w/ my local Indivisible group. Anecdotally speaking, I’m a little worried by the Bloomberg curious comments from several of them. I basically suggested they spend more time looking into his record, but it’s a good reminder that waves of TV advertising/propaganda work on most people.

  5. 5.

    Nelle

    February 3, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    Just home from my first Iowa caucus.  On the first round, Amy had the most votes, followed by Pete, then Biden.  Warren just missed the 15% required for viability.  The second round, when all whose candidates were not viable could realign, saw a surge over to Warren, who was then also declared viable.  Sanders people mostly came over to Warren,

  6. 6.

    dr. bloor

    February 3, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    Those Republican results look like a big fat intervention for Weld and Walsh re: the true nature of the party they think they belong to.

  7. 7.

    Immanentize

    February 3, 2020 at 10:22 pm

    @Nelle: I thought viability in a caucus was like in pregnancy.  Once lost, it cannot be reanimated.  But you tell me no?

  8. 8.

    Ken

    February 3, 2020 at 10:23 pm

    @Marcopolo: Did the Iowa Republicans allow any candidates other than Trump? Several states will be going that route.

  9. 9.

    Immanentize

    February 3, 2020 at 10:24 pm

    @dr. bloor: It is the Soviet model.  Their candidacy legitimizes the Trump tidal wave.

  10. 10.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    Interesting thread about another first:

    THREAD: for the first time ever, a mosque is hosting a presidential caucus in Iowa. This is historic. #IowaCaucuses pic.twitter.com/U0dv1N1gDE— Graham Ambrose (@Grahambrose) February 4, 2020

    The caucus temporary chair is switching between English and Bosnian. I only speak one of those so please bear with me— Graham Ambrose (@Grahambrose) February 4, 2020

  11. 11.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 3, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    @Immanentize: Yeah, that’s what I thought.  These rules are confusing.

  12. 12.

    Marcopolo

    February 3, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @Nelle:So I read that one rule change they made this year is having an impact: the writer said after a candidate’s group hit viability that those people were locked into that group (which was not the case before); that if the group of undecided voters in a caucus was viable that those voters were locked into that undecided group. Apparently this means there is a lot less movement after the first vote (and less strategic moving around). The idea behind this change was twofold: speed things up & make sure the votes of folks who can’t stay for hours get counted. Also, some reporting is also saying that there seems to be less rhyme or reason to how folks are choosing to re-align from non-viable caucuses?

    You were on the ground, did you notice any of this at your site?

  13. 13.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    It’s more Calvinball than caucus.

  14. 14.

    Kent

    February 3, 2020 at 10:26 pm

    @Immanentize: How do they do it?  Someone from Iowa here want to explain?  After the first round does the candidate with the lowest number of voters get to re-align and then they count again, and then the new lowest that is non-viable redistributes and they count again and keep doing it until all that are left is only viable candidates?

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 10:28 pm

    @Ken: From Joe Walsh’s campaign manager:

    Getting reports that at several precincts across Iowa, including precincts in Urbandale, voters wishing to speak on behalf of Joe Walsh are being turned away/told they may not speak.

    — Lucy Caldwell (@lucymcaldwell) February 4, 2020

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @Mary G: He really should have brushed up on his English or brought an interpreter before going on site for that assignment.

  17. 17.

    Percysowner

    February 3, 2020 at 10:31 pm

    @Kent: Here’s Nate Silver’s explanation

    Iowa’s process doesn’t stop there, however. Voters in candidate groups that fail to meet a viability threshold in the first alignment — typically 15 percent of the vote, but it can be higher in smaller precincts — have one of three choices:

    • They can join a viable group.
    • They can try to combine with voters in other nonviable groups to achieve viability. For example, if the Warren group initially has 14 percent of the vote, it’s not necessarily dead in the water. Rather, it could recruit a few Tom Steyer voters, or a Michael Bennet supporter, etc., to get to 15 percent. It can’t recruit voters from groups that already achieved viability, however. Once a group is viable, it can continue to add new voters and grow larger, but it can’t lose them.
    • Or they could just go home. Nothing forces them to participate in further rounds of caucusing.

     

  18. 18.

    Anne Laurie

    February 3, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    @dr. bloor: Those Republican results look like a big fat intervention for Weld and Walsh re: the true nature of the party they think they belong to.

    Can’t speak for Walsh, but Weld is strictly in it as a protest candidate.  He *was* one of that vanished breed, an Honorable New England Republican.   He finds Trump personally insulting.

    (Yeah, I have a soft spot for the guy.  I did vote for him back in the day — the alternative was John Silber, a misogynist nutbag, and MA is a ‘weak governor’ state where the legislature controls everything worth controlling.  )

    (And since our Pagan wedding officiant required special certification, I have a congratulatory letter signed by Weld to go with our official marriage license.)

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    February 3, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    Democrats In Disarray articles already written and timestamped for publication mañana.

    //

  20. 20.

    Barbara

    February 3, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    @Kent: This is how we have done some local primary elections.  You just keep eliminating candidates and redistributing votes until someone has 50% +1. You rank each candidate when you vote, so no realignment based on known results.

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    OT:

    dylan matthews @dylanmatt

    I fear young people are under the false impression that the Trump years are zanier than the Bush years. The vice president shot a guy in the face, the president got a black eye and tried to convince us a pretzel did it, and a top advisor resigned bc of his shoplifting problem

    Who was the shoplifter? I bet there was a time I knew the name and could identify a picture of that person, but right now it’s not ringing any bells

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    @Anne Laurie: I realize he probably didn’t move many votes, but I can’t get past his running for Veep on Johnson’s ticket, even if he did come out at the end and say “People, come on! You know you gotta vote for Clinton, right?”

  23. 23.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    If Hillary had won, this would be a straightforward two-person primary right now. :-(

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Claude A Allen.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    February 3, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    If I have to have a billionaire I like Steyer better than Bloomberg. IF I HAVE TO.

    You people better not do that to me.

  26. 26.

    Ohio Mom

    February 3, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    You do have to wonder what goes on in people’s minds as they caucus.

    Does anyone say to themselves something like,  “I hope she (neighbor, friend, co-worker, whatever) doesn’t hold it against me that I’m over here for this candidate.” Or, “Oh, he’s smart, I’ll do what he’s doing.” “She’s for that candidate? I always knew she was an idiot.”

    Such a weird idea, running around a room to agree on a candidate.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @Kay: Me too.

    Worst timeline ever.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: thank you– looked him up on Wiki. He was… something.

  29. 29.

    rp

    February 3, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    The bush years weren’t in the same ballpark of zaniness as trump. And the bush admin was really, really zany.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 10:47 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Given Paris Denard worked in the White House as a senior advisor to VP Cheney, that’s saying something.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    February 3, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    @Baud:

    You have to give some grudging respect for “our” billionaires, since the entire rest of their social class decided they like tax cuts more than…America. They’re really quite mavericky, if you think about it. The rest of these assholes sold us out in a heartbeat.

  32. 32.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 3, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    You can ummm…. vote? Uncommitted?

    Fuck. The. What?

  33. 33.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @Kay: We hire the best people.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    I’m about to give up for the evening. I can read about the damage tomorrow.

  35. 35.

    Mr. Kite

    February 3, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: somebody in that thread mentioned Jeff Gannon and I felt like reading Proust about madeleines.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    February 3, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @mrmoshpotato

    Yup. Uncommitted has even come in first in the past.

  37. 37.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 3, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @Baud: Steyer can DIAF, I’d rather have Bernie.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    What did he do?

  39. 39.

    Eolirin

    February 3, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: That’s because these caucuses don’t actually select delegates to go to the national convention, they select delegates to go to another event that will select those delegates.

  40. 40.

    Another Scott

    February 3, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    I’m just saying… ranked choice voting is pretty great https://t.co/GoJdeMbyld @RepRaskin

    — Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) February 4, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    February 3, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    @Another Scott: I’m leaning that way too.

  42. 42.

    catclub

    February 3, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    @rp: And the bush admin was really, really zany.

     

    Zany.  Not the word i would pick. How about war crimes?

    Tell it to a million dead iraqis.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 3, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @NotMax: Are you fucking kidding me, Shorts For Life?  How does that make sense to thinking humans?

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    February 3, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Call me crazy but maybe next cycle we should send a reporter to the state party headquarters.

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 4, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Nelle

    February 3, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    I actually enjoyed visiting with “neighbors” about why they were voting for their choices.

  46. 46.

    Kai-two

    February 3, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    The idea that there’s more than one way to determine the winner of Iowa was invented roughly three days ago and it deserves to be called out for the ratfucking it is. It’s designed to sow discord and create Dems In Disarray stories at the cost of the winner’s legitimacy.

    This right here.

    Saying there are multiple ways to count Iowa’s results is like saying there are 4 ways to count who won a football game based on the score at the end of each quarter.

    You have to be profoundly uninformed, stupid person (or the New York Times) to fall for this shit.

  47. 47.

    Marcopolo

    February 3, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    Quality control damnit!

    At this rate the “first in the nation” Iowa caucus is making a pretty good argument for this year being its last.

  48. 48.

    The Dangerman

    February 3, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    Tell them “get results or you have to watch the P&G Super Bowl commercial” on an endless loop (Sophia Vergara, Rob Riggle, and a cast of … well, everyone … in some sort of peyote inspired stream of conscionsness related to spilled … chili, I guess).

    RR having paper towels come out of his groin area with the title of the commercial being “We all come together” is bizarre and could prove to be excellent torture. Or Pat Boone covers some metal standards on an endless loop. Cruel and most definitely unusual but I’m tired of waiting.

  49. 49.

    Barbara

    February 3, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    So it’s going to be fog of war for a while, I guess.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    February 3, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    @Nelle: Thanks for your reports!

    It wasn’t clear from the early end of your comment at #5 how things turned out.  Who “won” the delegates there?

    Thanks again.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 3, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @Eolirin:

    That’s because these caucuses don’t actually select delegates to go to the national convention, they select delegates to go to another event that will select those delegates. 

    To quote Adam Sandler, “Fuck me in the goat ass!” That. is. ab. surd.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    On topic:

    Peter Hamby @ PeterHamby
    literally ~90% of the news coverage right now is coming from DSM area precincts that are younger & higher-educated — and people are drawing wayyyy too many conclusions from that

  53. 53.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    Sometimes Floriduh! Man is the hero we need!

    There are 120,000 people living in The Villages, and three of them are Democrats. Two of them are my parents, and the other one is this guy pic.twitter.com/JUWBOnMYeX

    — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) February 2, 2020

  54. 54.

    Eolirin

    February 3, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: When they get to the state convention they’re allowed to change their vote after the first round. It’s a way to state that they’re not yet sure who should be the nominee but want to be able to have a voice in the final tally after getting to see where the rest of the state ends up. Really useful for strategic voting.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    off topic:

    Meredith Lee @ meredithlleev
    A former Bolton aide:

    Mark Groombridge @MarkGroombridge
    .@AmbJohnBolton, You’ve let down your country. I worked loyally for you for 15 years. Yes, the Senate was never going to convict, but you had the opportunity to provide them with the info so they could make a fully informed decision. Guess it was about book sales after all.

    I still say Bolton has a couple of arrows still in the quiver

  56. 56.

    Another Scott

    February 3, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    Still nothing on the DR newspaper results page.  Looks like it’s going to be a long night.

    Fingers crossed that there’s a sensible outcome in the morning.

    ‘night everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:06 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I love that the great patriot trumpista proudly declares we shouldn’t have a First Amendment, (“I think you shouldn’t be able to say that about the President of the United States!”) and she’s going to report him! to Don Jr!

  58. 58.

    Barbara

    February 3, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: We go from “I don’t know how many women accused him of rape” to “You shouldn’t be able to say that about the president.”

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    “Who should we let kick off this crucial election system?”

    “How about the people who keep re-electing Steve King?”

    “Ooh! The ethanol folks? Great idea!”

    — ShrugHat (@Popehat) February 4, 2020

  60. 60.

    Martin

    February 3, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah. I think we all need to be realistic about whether Pelosi’s plan was ever to get to 67 in the Senate or just do as much damage as possible prior to November. If the latter was as least part of her plan, then Bolton hasn’t even played his hand yet.

  61. 61.

    danielx

    February 3, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    @rp:

    If you go with craziness instead of zaniness…

    I held Bush in contempt and detestation and utterly loathed Cheney (and still do), but I never thought either one was out and out crazy and/or deranged.

    With Trump, there is no doubt whatsoever.

  62. 62.

    chris

    February 3, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    The 2012 Iowa caucuses were a ****show when Rick Santorum beat Mitt Romney, except it wasn't clear for days. The 2016 Clinton-Sanders photo finish was a mess. Looks like we're headed for 3 for 3. Not a good look.— Mark Z. Barabak (@markzbarabak) February 4, 2020

  63. 63.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    Alex Seitz-Wald @ aseitzwald18m 
    Just in: Our first official statement from the Iowa Democratic Party. The big news here is TURNOUT. They say it’s on pace for 2016, which is LOW. 172,000 turned out in then, down from the record-high of 240,000 in 2008.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @Barbara: Meet Marsha Hill. She seems nice!

    Marsha Hill, also from The Villages. pic.twitter.com/xe94LparmK

    — Katie Bee (@RadicalMirth) February 3, 2020

  65. 65.

    Anya

    February 3, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: You’re kidding, right?

    wait… this is real. Holy hell. I guess republicans have always had poor hires.

  66. 66.

    Mike J

    February 3, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @Eolirin:That’s because these caucuses don’t actually select delegates to go to the national convention, they select delegates to go to another event that will select those delegates

    This is the way WA caucuses worked too.  Washingtonians should be vigilant because while we got rid of caucuses, the state party still picks delegates, and they tend to like people who will boo John Lewis.

    If you live in Washington you NEED to go to your local LD meeting and tell them you do not want ratfuckers going to Milwaukee.

  67. 67.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    Official version: quality checks taking a long time.

    Just in: Our first official statement from the Iowa Democratic Party.The big news here is TURNOUT. They say it's on pace for 2016, which is LOW. 172,000 turned out in then, down from the record-high of 240,000 in 2008. pic.twitter.com/MXGBKO64gc— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) February 4, 2020

    Two tweets I saw, too lazy to find again. One, I think from WSJ, that app the Iowa Dems chose has crashed. Other from someone claiming to be in a charge of a precinct, says he’s been waiting on hold for over an hour to report results.

  68. 68.

    Eolirin

    February 3, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Eh. Look, I would prefer primaries. I think they’re more democratic and think caucuses are a bit of an anachronism, but if you’re going to do them, it honestly makes a decent amount of sense to do it this way.

    The only thing that’s absurd is how much media attention is paid to them. They’re a tiny state and won’t have a material impact on the delegate counts, and those final delegate counts come in quite a bit later than the initial caucuses. They shouldn’t matter that much. The only reason they’re important is because the media insists they’re important and enough people buy it.

  69. 69.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 3, 2020 at 11:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: “I think you shouldn’t be able to say that about the President of the United States!”

    Wow.  I wish Ed had told her to move to Russia then.

    What a damn cult.

    ETA – I agree with Jim.  “I’m gonna tell my orange god emperor and his large failson on you!”

  70. 70.

    janesays

    February 3, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    @Eolirin: I think caucuses are a bit of an anachronism

    That’s kind of like saying anesthesia-free root canals are a bit painful.

  71. 71.

    Eolirin

    February 3, 2020 at 11:20 pm

    @janesays: I’m trying to be nice. :p

  72. 72.

    Marcopolo

    February 3, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Strikes me that might be as much of a result of the electorate in IA shifting R since 08 as anything else. I know that is what has happened here in MO.  Our rural areas went from a ~35-40% D vote to a 20-25% D vote.

    It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the two 2018 R to D flipped IA house seats in a Presidential year when the turnout will be through the roof.

    Suppose an alternative explanation is it just gets progressively harder for folks to carve out time to caucus every new 4 year period.

  73. 73.

    Kraux Pas

    February 3, 2020 at 11:23 pm

    I hate the FTFNYT headline about confusion about the results. It’s called counting.

    Anything to promote fake drama.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    @Marcopolo: probably also the excitement Obama/Clinton generated, and Obama had what I think was a legendary turn-out organization and buckets of money. Don’t know about Clinton.

    Anybody watching Klobuchar? Decent speech, I think.

  75. 75.

    Marcopolo

    February 3, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Mary G: Ah, the joys of using brand new tech in a real world situation.  In 2008 the Obama campaign had this great new phone app for designated poll watchers to use to ID supporters as the votes—ya know, so we knew whose house to go to to pull out folks who hadn’t yet.  Totally crashed on its first encounter with live real-time data. Don’t think it would have helped us make up a 4000 vote deficit statewide (McCain’s margin of victory here) but it was a great learning experience about relying on untested tech.

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 3, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Kraux Pas: It’s called using a specific technical solution for the first time on the night that it is most important.

  77. 77.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 11:29 pm

    Welp, the media is going to bitch about Dems in disarray, cause it looks like they really are in Iowa:

    CNN was interviewing an Iowa precinct official when the Iowa Democratic Party took him off hold. He tried to end his interview politely, but Wolf pressed to listen in; by the time they had agreement on that, the state party had hung up on him.— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 4, 2020

    So now he has to call back and rejoin the queue to report his results.— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 4, 2020

    Here’s the video — you really have to hear the melancholy in “they hung up on me” pic.twitter.com/tEh74KmJVN— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 4, 2020

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    February 3, 2020 at 11:31 pm

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Somewhere, WaterGirl nods sagely.

    ;)

  79. 79.

    danielx

    February 3, 2020 at 11:31 pm

    What the fuck?

    The Iowa Democratic Party released a statement to MSNBC saying that the party is doing “quality control on the results out of an abundance of caution,” and that “there is no ETA” on releasing them.

  80. 80.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the two 2018 R to D flipped IA house seats in a Presidential year when the turnout will be through the roof.

    And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take this time to point out that both of those Red-to-Blue flippers, people who won a general election, endorsed Biden
    Biden speaking, looks pretty good so far. I hope they told him to keep it short… oh, too late

  81. 81.

    janesays

    February 3, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    So… this is apparently a complete shitshow.

    The DNC really needs to give Iowa and New Hampshire an ultimatum – Iowa will no longer hold caucuses, and New Hampshire agrees to share the first in the nation status with them in 2024 and hold their primaries on the same day.

  82. 82.

    Bnad

    February 3, 2020 at 11:34 pm

    Cue actual FUD and mutual suspicion.  I smell Russian app hacking.

  83. 83.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:34 pm

    @danielx: Quality control is important. I believe they should take all the time required, three or four weeks, even.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @janesays: I’m completely ready to go back to smoke-filled rooms.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    February 3, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @danielx

    In its own way it is heartening to see them not buckle to meet the time frame pressure of east coast TV.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:37 pm

    W.W. McClyde @ WWMcClyde
    You know who benefits from this clusterfuck? Joe Biden. Think about it. He can just shrug his shoulders and say, “look, that was a mess.”

    ETA: I don’t think Biden’s quite that ruthless, but if he’s smart, he’s hired a couple people who are

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    February 3, 2020 at 11:37 pm

    @different-church-lady

    Whereas the Rs moved to jamoke-filled rooms.

    ;)

  88. 88.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 3, 2020 at 11:38 pm

    @danielx: Charitable explanation: Things are confused and they want to be sure they don’t have to recuse results later.

     

    Other explanation: They’re worried about hacking. I saw some speculation from the media about their app earlier, in which they said the app had actually been extensively tested and officials couldn’t figure out what was going wrong

  89. 89.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:39 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: [sigh] They’re running it on WordPress, aren’t they?

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 3, 2020 at 11:39 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:  Rachel Maddow just read a statement from the party saying ‘it’s not a hack, not an intrusion… underlying data and paper trail are sound”

  91. 91.

    Jay

    February 3, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    Trump 's new @FEC disclosure shows his re-election campaign spending $1.4+ million on legal consulting & lawyer fees in the 4th quarter of 2019 alone—roughly $12.4 MILLION since @realDonaldTrump became President facing Mueller investigation, Stormy Daniels lawsuit, impeachment… pic.twitter.com/xWEsAoVRsQ— Anna Massoglia (@annalecta) February 1, 2020

    New @FEC filing: Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paid $194,247.57 to Trump family members, properties & businesses in the final quarter of last year alone—steering over $1.8 MILLION in donations from presidential campaign donors to @realDonaldTrump's private interests. pic.twitter.com/ell9EtWkDH— Anna Massoglia (@annalecta) February 1, 2020

  92. 92.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    MORE: Polk County precinct chairs are being advised to take pictures of the results and text them over to the Polk County executive director, who is driving them to the HQ, according to a Democratic operative familiar with the situation— Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) February 4, 2020

    Amy K. had a smart idea, she just went ahead and just gave a speech to her supporters as if she knew she’d done well.

  93. 93.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 3, 2020 at 11:41 pm

    @different-church-lady: Maybe on geocities

  94. 94.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: GODDAMMIT, THERE’S LIKE 87 PEOPLE IN IOWA AT THE MOST! YOU COULD DO THIS ON A MEDIUM SIZED ABACUS!!!

  95. 95.

    Kraux Pas

    February 3, 2020 at 11:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Call it whatever you want but what it comes down to is the media isn’t getting results as fast as they want, so they’re throwing shade.

  96. 96.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    On those technical difficulties…"We are on paper in many cases," not the app, as was planned, said one Iowa Democrat. "The whole system largely broke."— Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) February 4, 2020

  97. 97.

    LeftCoastYankee

    February 3, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    Kudos to the IA Democratic Party to telling the media horse-race fuckers to get bent.  I had to laugh at Brian Williams being very disappointed….

    Limiting the premature speculation of national media on the glory of a Wang administration, is a good thing.

    Nate Silver’s take is wonky horseshit.  The changes in counts between rounds could matter if it was a more representative state.  In Iowa, the only metric which matters is final delegate count.

    Fucking breathe everyone, and let the process happen.  November is still 9 months away.

  98. 98.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    @Mary G: “Google, show me pictures of that time Loretta tallied results at the Iowa Caucuses…”

  99. 99.

    Martin

    February 3, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    @janesays: Yeah. Ban caucuses. Do ranked choice voting for all states in July. Make it the first Tuesday after the 4th. Convention a month later. We don’t need to spend a year on this.

  100. 100.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 3, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    @Mary G: I saw part of Amy’s speech – it was good! She made a good decision there.

    Also, texting the pictures isn’t…. terrible? But then someone is going to physically drive them over to HQ? That’s super weird.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    February 3, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    @Jay: Just released from moderation.  Too many links.  You can only have 7 in a comment.

  102. 102.

    Jay

    February 3, 2020 at 11:46 pm

    600-Pound Butter Cow Sculpture Wins Iowa Caucus https://t.co/i6FMhHAfeF pic.twitter.com/7GjcFz5IRl— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 4, 2020

  103. 103.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:46 pm

    THERE’S TOO MANY POKER CHIPS STUCK IN THE SERIES OF TUBES!!

  104. 104.

    L85NJGT

    February 3, 2020 at 11:47 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    The same metrics have been crowd sourced in the name of reform:

    Do we have a charismatic pitch person who can win?

    If not, is there someone crazy enough to self fund?

  105. 105.

    Redshift

    February 3, 2020 at 11:50 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Other explanation: They’re worried about hacking. I saw some speculation from the media about their app earlier, in which they said the app had actually been extensively tested and officials couldn’t figure out what was going wrong 

    Speaking as a software engineer with experience with things being extensively tested, there is no testing that compares to the massive hit this system is taking tonight. You can plan for capacity and do load testing, but it’s still not the same.

    For a recent example, take the launch of Disney+, which was a flagship service of giant corruption with a bazillion dollars, and it was still a huge cluster when signups launched.

  106. 106.

    Jinchi

    February 3, 2020 at 11:51 pm

    @Martin: Do ranked choice voting for all states in July. Make it the first Tuesday after the 4th.

    Love the idea. Heck we can still let Iowa and New Hampshire have their fun in February. The rest of us will have forgotten it all by summer.

  107. 107.

    Kraux Pas

    February 3, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    @Redshift: take the launch of Disney+, which was a flagship service of giant corruption

    Freudian slip?

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    February 3, 2020 at 11:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I don’t know what I love more:

    That it’s a golf cart…

    Or, that he’s just chilling…reading the newspaper???

  109. 109.

    Nelle

    February 3, 2020 at 11:56 pm

    @Another Scott: in our precinct,  there were 9 delegates for some other thingy (my husband is one of the Warren delegates).  Two each for Amy, Warren and Biden, three for Pete.  He and Amy tied for that last delegate and it was decided for Pete by a coin toss.  We’re still trying to understand the system.

  110. 110.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 3, 2020 at 11:57 pm

    @Redshift: I used to do professional QA for cloud apps. It’s definitely hard, but I’m surprised at the whole”complete failure” of the app.

    Usually in these cases it sorta works.

  111. 111.

    Mary G

    February 3, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    And for something completely different, a cool football player on the KC, MO Chiefs, Derick Nnadi:

    After the Kansas City Chiefs won on Sunday, this player made snow angels in the confetti, then paid off the adoption fees for more than 100 shelter dogs – which is probably one of the most wholesome Super Bowl celebrations of all time ❤️ https://t.co/kiN1UiRYD7 pic.twitter.com/hipp4imIU5— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 3, 2020

  112. 112.

    different-church-lady

    February 3, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    @Redshift: What if we got a bunch of people and flushed all the toilets at the same time?

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    February 4, 2020 at 12:06 am

    @different-church-lady

    Story goes that filming on Gene Kelly’s singin’ in the rain scene ran so late that it slopped over into the hours shortly after people got home from work and enough toilets were being flushed to turn it into singin’ in the drips.

  114. 114.

    danielx

    February 4, 2020 at 12:07 am

    @Kraux Pas:

    close enough

  115. 115.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 4, 2020 at 12:09 am

    @Redshift:

    giant corruption

    I believe the blog approved term is Giant Evil Corporation.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    February 4, 2020 at 12:09 am

    @Mary G: That’s really sweet about the angels and the pups.

  117. 117.

    The Dangerman

    February 4, 2020 at 12:09 am

    OK, how about if we give everyone in the caucus a kernel of corn, we place the kernels in jars, and then we weigh the thing. No fair popping or extra buttering.

  118. 118.

    Anne Laurie

    February 4, 2020 at 12:12 am

    New post up top, if anyone’s around to care.

  119. 119.

    danielx

    February 4, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @The Dangerman:

    But they would have to be totally identical kernels! And the scales would be fixed!

  120. 120.

    Redshift

    February 4, 2020 at 12:45 am

    @Kraux Pas:

    Freudian slip? 

    It never fails, any time I post something that gets any attention, it has an egregious autocorrect fail…

  121. 121.

    janesays

    February 4, 2020 at 1:19 am

    @Kraux Pas: I mean… the Iowa Democratic Party has provided no information, and the candidates are all giving victory speeches even though we have no idea who actually won.

    The only good thing that can come out of tonight is that hopefully this will be the last Iowa Caucus ever held. The DNC needs to tell them this shitshow is over. If they want to run caucuses again in 2024, they can do so – and they’ll get no votes at the convention.

  122. 122.

    Origuy

    February 4, 2020 at 1:34 am

    @different-church-lady:  I’m completely ready to go back to smoke-filled rooms.

    Bring it up to date, though. Have a different kind of smoke.

  123. 123.

    Anne Laurie

    February 4, 2020 at 2:09 am

    @Origuy: Bring it up to date, though. Have a different kind of smoke.

    Big electioneering opportunity in branded vape pens!

    (I’m so old, I can remember local pols handing out matchbooks, along with pencils & emery boards.)

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