Message boards :
Politics :
Iowa Caucus
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Author | Message |
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Blurf Send message Joined: 2 Sep 06 Posts: 8962 Credit: 12,678,685 RAC: 0 |
Courtesy of cnn.com: Democrats Obama 910 38% 96% reporting Edwards 723 30% Clinton 711 29% Richardson 51 2% Biden 23 1% 0 Uncommitted 3 0% 0 Dodd 1 0% 0 Gravel 0 0% 0 Kucinich 0 0% 0 Republicans Huckabee 31,508 34% 78% reporting Romney 23,682 25% McCain 12,520 14% Thompson 12,484 13% Paul 9,132 10% Giuliani 3,321 4% Hunter 395 0% Thoughts going into New Hampshire?? |
Blurf Send message Joined: 2 Sep 06 Posts: 8962 Credit: 12,678,685 RAC: 0 |
I'm registered Democrat and generally lean liberal but I generally focus on voting for the person I think will truly do best in the job.... I'm thinking the same but Mitt Romney has also peaked my interest. |
peanut Send message Joined: 1 Feb 07 Posts: 372 Credit: 1,951,576 RAC: 0 |
Those Iowans made some good choices IMHO. They seemed to say we want someone with a positive message. I lean to the Democrates and Obama or Edwards are fine by me. Still a long way to go, but a good start. I'm glad Romney lost because I very much dislike the fact that while he was Governor of Mass. he got law passed to force everyone to purchase health insurance. It is bad enough that I am forced to buy auto insurance where I live. I don't want to be forced to by insurance. If I want to take risk with my health that should be my right. I might die from lack of health care, but that should be my choice. Another rant about car insurance >> I live in a state that requires everyone to be covered, the twist that gets my goat is that part of the insurance you have to buy is uninsured motorist coverage. It makes no sense to have to by uninsured motorist coverage in a state that requires everyone to have insurance. Any candidate that is a pro-forced insurance person will not get my vote. |
Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0 |
The Iowa caucus operates very differently from the more common primary election used by most other states (re U.S. presidential primary). The caucus is generally defined as a "gathering of neighbors." Rather than going to polls and casting ballots, Iowans gather at a set location in each of Iowa's 1784 precincts. Typically, these meetings occur in schools, churches, or public libraries. The caucuses are held every two years, but the ones that receive national attention are the presidential preference caucuses held every four years. In addition to the voting and the presidential preference choices, caucus-goers begin the process of writing their parties’ platforms by introducing resolutions. Unlike the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, the Iowa caucus does not result directly in national delegates for each candidate. Instead, caucus-goers elect delegates to county conventions, who elect delegates to district and state conventions where the national convention delegates are selected. There is a debate over the effectiveness and usefulness of caucuses in Iowa. One criticism is that the caucuses, especially the Democratic caucus, are a step backwards from the right to a secret ballot. Democratic caucus participants (though not Republicans, whose caucuses vote by secret ballot) must publicly state their opinion and vote, leading to natural problems such as peer pressure from fellow neighbors and embarrassment over who his/her real pick might be. Another criticism involves the sheer amount of participants' time these events consume. The Iowa caucus lasts two hours, preventing people who must work, who are sick, or must take care of their children from casting their vote. Absentee voting is also barred, so soldiers who come from Iowa, but must serve in the military lose their vote. The final criticism is the complexity of the rules in terms of how one's vote counts, as it is not a simple popular vote. Each precinct's vote may be weighed differently due to its past voting record. Ties can be solved by picking a name out of a hat or a simple coin toss, leading to anger over the true democratic nature of these caucuses. Additionally, the representation of the caucus has been questioned due to traditionally low turnout. Others question the permanent feature of having caucuses in certain states, while perpetually ignoring the rest of the country. Source: Wikipedia me@rescam.org |
Franz Bauer Send message Joined: 8 Feb 01 Posts: 127 Credit: 9,690,361 RAC: 0 |
An Edwards/Obama ticket looks like the best choice for me. Obama is not pro space program and would make further cuts to it to pay for some of his other programs. This should sends chills down our resident Ferengi's back and take the gleam of latinum out of his eyes. :) |
Scary Capitalist Send message Joined: 21 May 01 Posts: 7404 Credit: 97,085 RAC: 0 |
I think Ron Paul could be a wild card, if only the vision was Bizarre. He stands opposed to virtually everything Obama and Edwards are for but the darling euro socialistas still love him. Truly weird. Founder of BOINC team Objectivists. Oh the humanity! Rational people crunching data! I did NOT authorize this belly writing! |
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