They are like holding elections on NextDoor.com
Bob Ray has participated in Iowa’s Republican caucuses in the past, but not this year. Ray is blind, and with snow clogging the roads and subzero temperatures gripping the state, showing up on Monday is a non-starter.
“I’m 75 years old, and I’m not going to want to get out that night,” he said.
To some here, the Iowa caucuses are an exemplar of democracy, binding communities together and allowing everyday voters to connect with candidates who, a year from now, may be running the country. To others, they are an antiquated system that excludes those who — due to a disability, a work shift, a flat tire, child care needs, extreme weather or any other factor — can’t turn up on the one night every four years when Iowa voters get a say in picking presidential nominees.
Voters must be at their precincts at 7 p.m. Central time on Monday, where they will hear speeches from representatives of the candidates, fill out ballots and, if they want, observe as the votes get tallied. No early or absentee voting is allowed, except for a tiny number of military service members.
States adopted caucuses in the early 19th century to choose delegates to send to national party conventions. As primaries became popularized nationally in the 1970s, Iowa stuck with its caucuses. Over the last half century the state has soaked up attention from candidates and the media by holding the first presidential nominating contest in the country.
The vast majority of states now conduct primaries, which allow more people to participate because voters can cast ballots whenever convenient on Election Day — or, often times, before then by voting by mail or at an early-voting site.
Democrats are increasingly critical of caucuses, and they are conducting a mail-in primary in Iowa this year that concludes in March. Iowa Republicans remain committed to the caucuses, saying that even in inclement weather, the process has been proven to work.
This is what the experts think is the “advantage” of caucuses:
Candidates need to connect with voters in a way that makes them willing to take the extra steps the caucuses require, she said. Because of the structure of the caucuses and Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status — at least among Republicans — candidates repeatedly visit the state and hold small events where voters can drill them about their stances. The arrangement makes Iowa a proving ground for candidates, and successful ones find that it strengthens their campaigns, she said.
“If you get rid of a process like this, I think it’s much easier for candidates with big money and a lot of name recognition to sail in, run a bunch of ads in an expensive media market and dominate the airwaves and thereby gain a lot of casual support,” she said. “And that can’t happen in Iowa. You’ve got to have a lot more than that.”
Really? Donald Trump has barely turned up in the state and he just holds rallies with the faithful.He’s [polling nearly 30 points higher than his rivals. And Iowa routinely turns out winners like Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz and Pat Robertson who are total duds beyond the state. It’s worthless.
These caucuses are dominated by the most aggressive, sometime belligerent, supporters who run roughshod over less assertive personalities.
There’s a reason for the secret ballot.
While Iowa’s system allows citizens to frequently meet candidates, it also results in lower voter participation. In 2016, the last time there were competitive primaries for both parties, just 15.7 percent of eligible voters attended either Republican or Democratic caucuses.
A week later, more than half the eligible voters in New Hampshire cast ballots in that state’s primary, according to data kept by University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald. Many other states with primaries had turnout rates in the 30s that year, more than twice as high as Iowa.
They should do away with them.