What is a Caucus?
Two hours to go and our friends to the west will be caucusing… but what does that even mean?
A caucus isn’t like a primary, where you get to walk into the booth and cast your private vote. It’s more like an old American town hall meeting – discussing politics and your opinions openly with your neighbors at the local library or church basement. And declaring a winner from a discussion - a caucus - is no easy business, especially in Iowa, where 1,993 different precincts will each host two meetings tonight promptly at seven p.m.: one for the Democrats, one for the Republicans.
While the Republicans use a “one head, one count” system, the Democrats have a much more complicated process (you’re shocked, I’m sure). It all starts with supporters meeting to discuss what matters – and then splitting off into corners of a room marked for the specific candidate they think best addresses their concerns. There's even room for the undecided - so “Hillary” will have a corner and so will “I don’t know yet.” For about half an hour, members of each cluster try to convince the others to join their group: the undecideds are an obvious draw, but it’s an open political market and everyone’s looking for votes.
When everyone’s settled, the numbers are tallied. Any candidate who did not receive the support of at least 15 percent of those present is considered invalid, and so starts Round Two. This is why people say that the supporters of second tier candidates decide the Iowa caucus: for the next thirty minutes, supporters of valid candidates will try to woo those whose candidate didn’t make the cut.
So that Kucinich endorsed Obama as a great second choice is a pretty big deal.
When that’s done the numbers are tabulated at the precinct level and sent to the county and then the state. In all reality, that takes a few days, but once the precincts have voted, the winners aren’t too hard to identify.
So for all the fuss, is it worth it? If you’ve got kids at home and no sitter, or work an evening service job from which you can’t take the night off, it’s more arcane than tangible democracy. And while it may be the electoral college to a primary’s popular vote, it’s also an informed electorate having an honest discussion about what matters to them – something we could all use a little more of.
For more on the caucus, make sure you watch Ken Rudin's Guide to the Caucuses. Obama, election 08, Iowa, caucus, Kucinich, how does the iowa caucus work
