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(Commentary) Three days have elapsed since the Iowa caucuses, and while most of the presidential candidates have moved on to New Hampshire, some Iowa Democrats cannot shake the sense that Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status may be in jeopardy. Others are left wondering whether the caucus system itself will be resurrected four years from now.
While the Iowa Democratic Party is beaming over the record turnout that tallied 239,000 Democrats caucusing Thursday night, nearly doubling 2004′s record turnout of 124,000, the record numbers helped to illustrate some of the flaws of the actual process. “When you have a quarter of a million people turn out to caucus, you’re going to have a few problems,” Carrie Giddins, spokeswoman for the Iowa Democrats, told The Des Moines Register.
The Register’s Erin Jordan characterized these problems as “hiccups,” but if these trapped air bubbles are not addressed by the Democratic Party, the Iowa caucuses may choke themselves into extinction.
The Iowa caucuses were initially conceived to be a “gathering of neighbors,” wherein people can participate in a spirited discussion about the candidates, but this notion has been replaced in larger precincts by crowd control, fire-code violations, organized mayhem and, in some instances, mob rule.
Hiccup!Matt Palevsky and Bess Kalb at Huffington Post detailed an account of “mob mentality” in the gymnasium of Brody Middle School, where 437 neighbors gathered to caucus. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden had reached the requisite threshold of 70 but was ruled unviable when one of their people did not make it back to the group, missing the final count by a few seconds. When Biden supporter Kevin Owen complained to the precinct captain, the concern was brought to a vote, but the Biden supporters were shouted down by the collective “nays” of the front-runners.
Hiccup!
Coralville Precinct 6 had the largest turnout in Johnson County, where 762 caucusgoers joined the fray and squeezed into the Wickham Elementary School gymnasium. One participant, Meg Wagner, said that several people could not get in or find parking, so they turned around and drove home. Their voices had been silenced before they had a chance to step onto the gymnasium floor, not to mention, it is hard imagining a civil and constructive discussion transpiring among 762 people.
Hiccup!
On the bright side, 60 percent of the caucus-goers were new participants, and it’s great to see more people actively participating in the political process. Unfortunately, such a large increase means that the majority of caucus-goers had never been exposed to the strategic and numeric complexities of how the caucuses work. They were left to the mercy of their preferred candidate’s precinct captain, assuming they had one. Consequently, instead of actively participating in the process, a number of caucus rookies did as the were told: “Stay put until further instruction.”
Hiccup!
The real casualties of the Democratic caucus process were the so-called second-tier candidates. For the past nine months, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut have been battling the media, which simplified the race to a three-candidate race last spring. Coverage focused primarily on the poll-driven front-runners: former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York.
Because of the record-high turnout, the viability threshold was too high for the second-tier candidates. Consequently, the big three sucked all the air out of the room in most precincts. In Coralville Precinct 3, the turnout had nearly doubled since 2004, growing from 64 to 118 attendees. Because the number of delegates assigned to each precinct is based on previous elections, caucus-goers in Coralville 3 found themselves competing for three delegates.
Hiccup!
After speeches were given by precinct captains from each of the six represented candidates, caucus-goers broke into preference groups. As expected, Obama and Clinton absorbed most of the people, 43 moving to Obama’s corner and 33 moving to Clinton’s corner. Meanwhile Edwards (15), Biden (11), Richardson (11), and Dodd (5) did not reach the initial viability number of 20. During the first 15 minutes of the 30-minute realignment period, it was clear that all of these folks came committed to their preferential candidate and were unwilling to join another camp. In a democracy, why should they have to?
By the end of the period, all four unviable groups did commit to one thing: being uncommitted. In lieu of relinquishing the coveted third delegate, the groups formed an uncommitted group, which surpassed Clinton’s number, 35-33, while some members broke ranks and went to Obama. Their commitment to uncommitment not only forged a political paradox, but served to repudiate the caucus system. Opposed to adding more credence to a candidate they did not fully support, they were willing to sacrifice their voices in the process, thus maintaining their integrity.
Hiccup!
Speaking of integrity, the real tragedy that the Coralville Precinct 3 woes illustrate is that two of the candidates, whose lives have been dedicated to public service, were sacrificed by Iowa’s caucus system. Biden and Dodd, who boast a combined half-century of experience in the Senate, were the real casualties of the Iowa caucuses.
Hiccup!
Ironically, Biden and Dodd vigorously defended the Iowa caucus system on the campaign trail, only to witness the very same process put political daggers intp their presidential bids. Dodd was the first to make a written pledge to maintain the integrity and spirit of the Iowa caucuses and asked the rest of the field to commit to the same pledge, which they did. Biden said on several occasions that the Iowa caucuses are the great leveler of democracy, because they give candidates who do not have the big bucks a chance to be heard during the retail-politicking process.
Biden received .9 percent and Dodd garnered only .02 percent of the final delegates, but because of the viability effect, these numbers are not truly representative of their support in Iowa. In Coralville Precinct 3, Biden initially had 10 percent of the vote, but left with nothing. Had the Democrats used the system adopted by the Iowa Republican Party, where all the votes count for each candidate, Biden could have left Iowa with 10 percent of the Iowa vote under his belt. Consequently, Biden and Dodd abandoned their bids and returned to their respective homes, while Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who posted numbers ranging around the tenth percentile, move on to New Hampshire.
Biden and Dodd deserve better than this, Iowa.
Hiccup!
When the Iowa Democratic Party begins mounting its defense for the first-in-the-nation status, they may want to reconsider changing the process. People outside of Iowa do not mind Iowa being first inasmuch as that, for some quality candidates, Iowa is so often last. Imagine how all of Biden and Dodd’s supporters outside of Iowa, who volunteered for their campaigns and/or committed to them financially, might feel.
Sure, the Iowa Democratic Party may have nearly doubled its numbers for next year’s general election because of the caucus. But, depending on how long the primary process draws out, not all states outside of Iowa will be afforded this same luxury.
Hiccup!
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