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[Commentary] I attended the Democratic caucuses last night in Iowa City and recorded the results. Our precinct was allotted 9 delegates and over 500 caucusers showed up in the cold.
There were reports that some people even walked to their precinct caucus site.
At night. In the winter. To vote.
Can you imagine? As they say in Coralville, “Only in Iowa City!”
My mom was working as a volunteer handing out precinct stickers that tracked the number of participants. I got there early and watched as the caucus site on the U of Iowa campus was filled.
Some numbers from the first round came so slowly you could call them tantalizingly slow.
Below the fold; more caucus chaos captured by Iowa Independent lenses.Part 1 of the video from precinct 21 in Iowa City is below. In this one, you’ll see the beginning of the process and the first alignment of caucus-goers.
I found it interesting that when the Kucinich team approached the Dodd team, they claimed that their higher numbers meant a critical mass, but when informed of Clinton’s near-viable numbers the reaction was, “Go tell the Richardson people about Hillary Clinton’s low numbers.”
First alignment numbers, plus the final tally, are in this video, part 2 of the caucus from Precinct 21 in Iowa City, Iowa:
After the first alignment and determination that only two candidates were viable, there was some discussion about how to proceed to the next stage of the process, but finally the rule was read aloud by Precinct Chair Dawn Suter and most then went back to their meeting places to caucus some more. The two groups with the most people and only viable candidates stayed in the room — Edwards and Obama.
After a short time, I’d really expected an uncommitted group to re-enter the room for a delegate or two. Instead, voters gradually streamed back into the space, some for Obama and some for Edwards. The final delegate tally was 6 to 3, Obama over Edwards.
Here’s what I missed while I sat down in the main room with the two largest vote-getters:
The remaining candidates went to their meeting spaces. What did they talk about? Was there any discussion of an uncommitted delegate?
Did the Richardson/Kucinich/Biden/Dodd machine consider coagulation, fertilization and viability as an uncommitted group? There were some uncommitted voters already out there, did they caucus for an uncommitted delegate?
Well, I’m sure there are caucusers out there who can attest to that version of the story. Instead, here are two visiting college students with their reaction to the whole messy process of caucusing:
They were visiting from Virginia Commonwealth University and in town to support (who else?) the candidacy of Barack Obama. As observers, they could not take part in the caucus, but they seemed very entertained.
Well, that wraps up my caucus experience. I’m Adam Burke and this has been my caucus camera from Precinct 21.
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