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Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party should adapt the "Majority Preferential", or also refered to as the Alternative Vote, for a fair and truly democratic outcome in presidential primaries and caucuses.Under the Alternative Vote system, regardless of the number of candidates, if a candidate garners a true majority [50+%] of all votes cast, then they are declared the winner.But if no candidate garners a true majority [50+%] of votes cast, then a voters 'alternative or 2nd preference' is counted:["Elections under Alternative Vote are usually held in single-member districts, like FPTP elections. However, AV gives voters considerably more options than...

Had voting in the Iowa Republican caucuses been restricted to voters under the age of 40, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas would have won easily, according to an entrance poll published by CNN. By contrast, according to the poll, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won among voters between 40 and 64, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won among voters 65 or older. Voters at the caucuses tended to be older citizens, according to the poll, with fully 60 percent of them being at least 50 years of age. Only 25 percent of the caucus-goers were under 40, and...

“Game on.” That was the opening statement from a somewhat vindicated and jubilant Rick Santorum. Santorum found himself at the end of an incredible journey; a journey that included all of Iowa’s ninety-nine counties, three hundred and eighty-one town hall meetings. The finish line showed Santorum losing Iowa by a mere eight votes but most would conclude that Rick Santorum was the big winner. There may be more than three tickets leaving Iowa but quite a few are going to miss the plane. Rick Perry finished in a disappointing fifth place behind Newt Gingrich, who also experienced some difficulties in...

Keeping-in-mind the state's pitiful track record at picking eventual Republican presidential nominees, here's considering the Iowa Caucus results and what they mean (if anything): Santorum and Romney are locked in a dead-heat late into the night, nearing 25% of the vote each.  Romney appears to be pulling into the lead with a late surge, though. Ron Paul is third and Newt a battle-weary fourth, the take-away for Team Doughboy being "attack ads work", shame that it is. The rest are left licking wounds and re-assessing hopes in the wake of disappointing finishes, particularly Michelle Bachmann (who actually won the Iowa Staw Poll five months ago) and ...

Rick Santorum had the good fortune to surge right into Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses, where he virtually tied Mitt Romney. Several other GOP candidates, including Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, have risen to the top of the polls only to fall quickly to earth. Even if the ex-Pennsylvania senator can avoid implosion, he still faces a daunting road to the nomination. Romney has a nationwide campaign with lots of cash. Many early contests appear to favor him.

7 Things The Iowa Caucus Results Mean, and 3 Things all Conservatives Should See.1) The Establishment has successfully co-opted the Tea Party.Iowa is prime Tea Party territory (socially conservative, fiscally conservative, and grassroots oriented). If the voters in Iowa would not stand up to Mitt Romney and defeat the establishment no one will. By convincing voters that a Massachusetts Moderate is most electable against Barack Obama the GOP establishment has won. 2) Old School Politics still work. Rick Santorum did things the old way, by going out, meeting voters, and persuading them to vote for him. Unlike some of the...

Maybe it's time for a GOP rebellion. Why should voters listen to the GOP or Rove when they helped us into this soup? Does anyone think Romney has the guts to cut a trillion dollars in spending? Would he or Gingrich demand a declaration of war before putting troops in harms way? Are either of them going to get back to the Constitution, or just give it timely lip service?

This absolutely sickens me. It is the lowest of the low. Liberal Alan Colmes mocks Rick Santorum for treating his dead son with dignity. Colmes was suggesting that voters would shun Santorum once they “get a load of some of the crazy things he’s said and done, like taking his two-hour-old baby when it died right after child birth home and played with it so that his other children would know that the child was real." Notice the word "it." Colmes said the Santorum's took "it" home. My goodness, even a child that is born is still an "it"...

"..........And this, as much as anything else, is why Rick Santorum—a man who was stuck at 4 percent in the local polls as recently as one month ago, and is still stuck at 4 percent nationally—is going to win the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday........

Live thread to cover today's GOP caucus. News, predictions, opinions, totals, and the like. Will be heading out about 4 pm or so to get our site ready and do a final review with the precinct chairs. I expect it to be bigger than 2008 with very heavy turnout and we are preparing for that. We are also ready for disruptions. They simply won't be tolerated. The state party sent us a memo saying if there's any trouble call the cops immediately. Anyone trying to cause problems is going to get a rude awakening. My predictions of the outcome are...

Now that the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s season has ended, another new season begins, one that I call SILLY. WELCOME to the SILLY SEASON called United States of America 2012 Presidential elections politics. On this day of the Iowa GOP Republican Caucus, when those who are part of this caucus voting effort, the ball gets rolling to get a candidate who can not only survive the grueling campaign for the White House, but all the attacks coming from other GOP Republican candidates in the weeks and months ahead. Best wishes to the remaining candidates in the GOP Republican Presidential 2012 field. Best...

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are arguing like girls on the playground. The USA Today piece is funny, but it shows the absurdity of meaningless rhetoric. Voters who knew and understood Herman Cain's 999 plan may be left to wonder what Romney and Gingrich stand for except attacking each other, and defending themselves. Iowans do not like candidates bickering with each other.

For months on the campaign trail, former Senator Rick Santorum was an afterthought for many potential voters. However, in the past week, his popularity has increased tremendously right before the Iowa Caucus. Along with his rising poll numbers, the traffic on RickSantorum.com has exploded as well. The traffic-tracking website Alexa did not even rank RickSantorum.com in the top 100,000 websites on the internet in the three months leading up to the surge. Yet, in the past week, not only has the site gone above 100,000, but it has broken 40,000: (Three Month View) (One Week View) To put this into...

The Republican Iowa Caucus is tomorrow and by all accounts it will be a very close race. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have been neck-and-neck in the polls for months now, but a Rick Santorum surge in the last week makes Iowa appear to be a three-way race. Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich are also on the ballot. Who will win is completely up in the air at the moment and will be until tomorrow night. However, right now, who would you vote for if you had a chance to voice your support in the Iowa...

Well here we go, the Iowa Caucuses are now just a day away. While I felt good about the simulation I performed last week, it appears all but shot now. The good news is that the numbers are still good, I just have to move the names around a little bit. In this thread, we’ll go county-by-county and analyze the vote totals and the most likely outcomes. Your own comments and analysis are always welcomed. Again this isn’t as scientific as some might think, and probably relies more on common sense. One last item. If this does turn out to...

<p>In what may be an anomaly in Iowa caucus history, voters are still flitting from candidate to candidate in the final days of the race.</p>

A popular social conservative radio talk show host whose program is heard statewide in Iowa is backing Newt Gingrich for president. Steve Deace's endorsement comes four days before the Hawkeye State's January 3 caucuses...

Iowans might feel a bit overwhelmed by the choices for next Tuesday’s Republican caucuses for the GOP presidential nomination, but one independent group has begun running radio ads insisting that there is still room for one more choice. Calling itself “Sarah Palin’s Iowa Earthquake,” the group will target specific markets in Iowa asking voters to line up behind the Republican Party’s most prominent non-candidate, and other ads will apparently follow: Can Iowans caucus for Palin at this late date? Sure. Unlike primary states, there is no “ballot” in the legal sense at caucuses. Attendees can write in names on the...

Full Primary/Caucus Calendar Jan 3 Iowa (caucus) 28 Delegates Jan 10 New Hampshire (primary) 12 Delegates Jan 21 South Carolina (primary) 25 Delegates Jan 31 Florida (primary) 50 Delegates Feb 4 Nevada (caucus) 28 Delegates Feb 4-11 Maine (caucus) 24 Delegates Feb 7 Colorado (caucus) 36 Delegates Minnesota (caucus) 40 Delegates Missouri (primary) 52 Delegates Feb 28 Arizona (primary) 29 Delegates Michigan (primary) 30 Delegates Mar 3 Washington (caucus) 43 Delegates Mar 6 Alaska (caucus) 27 Delegates (Super Georgia (primary) 76 Delegates Tuesday) Idaho (caucus) 32 Delegates Massachusetts (primary) 41 Delegates North Dakota (caucus) 28 Delegates Ohio (primary) 66 Delegates...

Polls? Screw the polls. If you want any good information you have to find it yourself. So that’s what I set out to do last week. It took about two weeks to produce/run the simulation but I think my product (while nowhere perfect) should be just as good an indicator of what is going to happen in Iowa as a sample poll. Here is what I did. I went painstakingly through all 99 counties analyzing the numbers on voter turnout and results from both the 2004 General Election and the 2008 Iowa Caucus and General Election to find the most...