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You are here: Home / Election 2020 / Election Year Open Thread: Harry Reid Now Wants to End Caucuses

Election Year Open Thread: Harry Reid Now Wants to End Caucuses

by Anne Laurie|  February 24, 202011:02 pm| 24 Comments

This post is in: Election 2020, Open Threads

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I think in part because the experience of participating in caucuses is increasingly disappointing. People also point to 20%-30% first time caucus goers as a sign of enthusiasm. Flip it around, & it means a lot of people went once then never did it again. https://t.co/9rQLvMFlaU

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 24, 2020

Harry Reid, who helped bring the early caucus here in 2008, now wants it and others gone, as do many others. He also says M4A is "a big, big boondoggle." And: "I don't think Donald Trump is smart enough to understand what's going on."@SHO_TheCircushttps://t.co/bxT2GwcdPB

— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) February 23, 2020

Statement from Senator Reid: “I believe it’s time for the Democratic Party to move to primaries everywhere.” pic.twitter.com/2yiwRoeEu2

— Adam Jentleson 🎈 (@AJentleson) February 24, 2020

And he’s not alone…

No matter how smoothly the #NVCaucus is run, this should be the last year we as Democrats allow caucuses. They lower participation leading to a whiter, older electorate and frankly are really expensive for the parties to run. Rather them sink that money into organizing.

— Julia Rosen (@juliarosen) February 22, 2020

caucuses vs primaries and democracy:

-New Hampshire’s total population is 1.35 million and just under 300,000 voted in the Democratic primary

-Nevada’s total population is 3 million and under 100,000 voted in the caucuses—with early voting that is not available in NH https://t.co/1710PWNKaE

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) February 24, 2020

Back-of-envelope math: Sanders turned 34% support on 1st ballot into almost 69% of delegates. That's what happens in caucuses. https://t.co/9ADwJaGe4p

— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) February 24, 2020

Pretty huge spread between the different vote counts in Nevada. pic.twitter.com/de2FaJOKcr

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 24, 2020

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Previous Post: « Election Year Open Thread: The Vast Mystery of Elizabeth Warren
Next Post: About Today’s ‘Pandemic’ Panic »

Reader Interactions

24Comments

  1. 1.

    anarchoRex

    February 24, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    About time.

  2. 2.

    lamh36

    February 24, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    @ABC
    Follow Follow @ABC
    More
    Joe Biden to Vanessa Bryant: “There will come a day, I promise you, when the memory of Kobe and Gianna will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.” https://abcn.ws/2TaDiXI

    https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1232074182369988608

  3. 3.

    anarchoRex

    February 24, 2020 at 11:20 pm

    I know as a Bernie Bro I’ve sworn a pledge to hate every Democrat besides Bernie ***”he’s not a democrat” echoes in the comments*** but I miss Harry Reid, always had a soft spot for him.

  4. 4.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 24, 2020 at 11:31 pm

    I’ve been too busy to keep up the last week: so this massive Nevada victory I’m reading about was 27,000 votes? The NV presidential electorate in the last three cycles was ~1,000,000

  5. 5.

    Morzer

    February 24, 2020 at 11:31 pm

    If you want some data about what self-identifying as a democratic socialist will do for the nominee’s electability:

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/socialism-bernie-sanders-independents-general-election.html

  6. 6.

    Mandalay

    February 24, 2020 at 11:36 pm

    @Morzer: You whine incessantly about Sanders. Fine.

    Now tell us how any of the Democratic candidates who are less popular than Sanders would do better.

    Thought not.

  7. 7.

    TaMara (HFG)

    February 24, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    Just a reminder to everyone, the pie filter was created to not allow someone like anarchorex to derail threads. I suggest you use pie liberally.

    This is your nightly troll PSA.

  8. 8.

    TaMara (HFG)

    February 24, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    From a town hall tonight.

    Sanders: “China is another example. China is an authoritarian country, becoming more and more authoritarian. But can anyone deny – I mean, the facts are clear, that they have taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history.” https://t.co/rUyF3E6UGp

    — David Wright (@DavidWright_7) February 25, 2020

    ;

    Fun times.

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 24, 2020 at 11:51 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): it’s like Biden wanting to brag about his bipartisan bona fides, and instead of talking about John McCain or John Warner or Olympia Snow, he drags Eastland and Talmadge out of the mothballs. Bernie could name Canada, South Korea, Japan or half of Europe as models for successfully expanded social safety nets. But he talks about China and Cuba

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    February 24, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    Caucuses are undemocratic😠😠

  11. 11.

    Jackie

    February 24, 2020 at 11:55 pm

    I’m sorry, I haven’t figured out how to attach a link, but, this editorial recommending Buttigieg in S. Carolina is jaw-dropping – in a good way! https://www.thestate.com/opinion/article240519821.html

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    February 24, 2020 at 11:58 pm

    This is not my area of expertise, but maybe you could say it was Bill Clinton, egged on by Sam Walton, who in giving China Most Favored Nation status, was ultimately responsible for lifting all those Chinese people out of poverty?

    At any rate, Bernie needs to get his foot out of mouth if we’re going to have to depend on him to oust Trump. Sheesh.

  13. 13.

    anarchoRex

    February 25, 2020 at 12:03 am

    @TaMara (HFG):  I honestly wish some people would take your advice.

  14. 14.

    gwangung

    February 25, 2020 at 12:11 am

    @TaMara (HFG): Given China’s size of population, couldn’t you also say they had a lot of people they COULD take out of poverty? A poverty that was self-inflicted by the Cultural Revolution

     

    @Ohio Mom:  Yeah. Could have said, even a poor, dictatorship like Cuba got 100% literacy; we can just as well.

  15. 15.

    Duane

    February 25, 2020 at 12:12 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: If Sanders keep talking like that he’s going to talk himself right out of the nomination.

  16. 16.

    Morzer

    February 25, 2020 at 12:16 am

    @Ohio Mom:  Deng Xiaoping is the guy who deserves the credit for dumping Maoism and starting to move China towards a free market economy.

  17. 17.

    Morzer

    February 25, 2020 at 12:18 am

    @Jackie:

    During the multiple months of interviewing candidates, The State made repeated attempts to schedule a meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders. Despite those extensive efforts, Sanders would not agree to participate in an interview.

  18. 18.

    Jackie

    February 25, 2020 at 12:34 am

    @Morzer: I know, right? Why not???

  19. 19.

    Jay Noble

    February 25, 2020 at 12:52 am

    @rikyrah: I just don’t know how caucuses survived past WWII and the advent of car culture. It’s nothing but bullying and peer pressure writ large. Why would you do a caucus and then insist no one can see your presidential ballot?

  20. 20.

    Jay

    February 25, 2020 at 12:59 am

    https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/A983/production/_104859334_chart-china_poverty_ws_languages-7869h-nc.png&imgrefurl=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46602785&docid=FNGOruarC-52OM&tbnid=qPgfZGrtUpKO4M:&vet=1&w=624&h=403&hl=en-ca&source=sh/x/im
    https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.economicsjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/poverty-rate-historical1.png&imgrefurl=https://www.economicsjunkie.com/us-poverty-rate-how-the-great-society-programs-reversed-its-decline/&docid=o5_pejXCSaA3hM&tbnid=aTX_5x15fyb1jM:&vet=1&w=649&h=434&hl=en-ca&source=sh/x/im

    Notice the differences?

  21. 21.

    Morzer

    February 25, 2020 at 1:10 am

    @Jackie: Doubtless he was improving his literacy with the special Castro reader for 80-year old children.

  22. 22.

    smike

    February 25, 2020 at 1:13 am

    @Jay Noble: We had caucuses for one year in Tx, and I thought it sucked. Now I vote early (on paper ballots a/la ‘fill in the bubble’) and there is no comparison.

  23. 23.

    Mousebumples

    February 25, 2020 at 5:45 am

    I caucused in 2004,in Iowa , when I was at school. It was a very interesting experience that I enjoyed participating in…. Along the lines of “it was cool to take a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon one time.”

    As a college student, my nights were (mostly) free. As a mother of baby, I can’t imagine keeping her with me for an hour or two on the evening, probably past her bedtime…

  24. 24.

    Ken

    February 25, 2020 at 7:47 am

    Why does Harry Reid hate the Iowa corn dog and fried butter-stick industry?

    (Pardon me a moment…)

    I’ve just been informed that ridiculous campaign appearances are also held in non-caucus states.  Objection withdrawn.

Comments are closed.

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