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Vanity - Should The GOP Consider Moving Towards Caucuses And Away From Primaries?
self | 1/16/2024 | mbrfl

Posted on 01/16/2024 12:29:21 PM PST by mbrfl

I’m starting to like the idea of a caucus. Perhaps the GOP should look into relying more on caucuses than on primaries. You have the nomination being decided by a smaller, more motivated and informed group of voters than you do in primaries, where people are more easily swayed by soundbites, and misleading campaign ads, and the low information voter reigns supreme. Any thoughts.


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KEYWORDS: caucus; elections; primary; republicans; vanity
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To: stubernx98

Agreed. And I would argue that caucus lessen the impact of money in the process. IMO, primaries favor the well-funded Establishment candidate to a greater degree than caucuses do. The money bomb media blitz is arguably more effective in a primary than a caucus.


21 posted on 01/16/2024 12:53:10 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: erlayman

That could be said for a primary just as much as a caucus. Bad weather effects turnout in either case.


22 posted on 01/16/2024 12:55:18 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Agreed.


23 posted on 01/16/2024 12:55:42 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: mbrfl

Question:

Someone posted a Rush Limbaugh quote the other day saying the Iowa caucuses are just glorified straw polls and do not assign delegates to the convention, and thus do not affect who is the nominee.

If that s true, how do Iowans vote for who is nominee?


24 posted on 01/16/2024 12:55:45 PM PST by enumerated (81 million votes my ass)
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To: mbrfl

Primaries have extended early and absentee voting so there is less need to show up physically at a poll.


25 posted on 01/16/2024 12:57:40 PM PST by erlayman (E )
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To: mbrfl

The GOP should pay for its own primaries.

When state governments pay for our primaries, government writes the rules.

When we pay for our own primaries, we write the rules.


26 posted on 01/16/2024 12:58:29 PM PST by zeestephen (Trump "Lost" By 43,000 Votes - Spread Across Three States - GA, WI, AZ)
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To: enumerated

I don’t think that’s true. I’m pretty sure the caucus results, at least in Iowa, determine the state’s delegate allotment.


27 posted on 01/16/2024 1:01:54 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: mbrfl
The advantage of a caucus system is that it is closed to non-party members. It also tends to filter out the riffraff who should not be voting anyway.

%%^!!

I sound just like a Democrat! I guess that makes me "bipartisan".

Open primary elections are a catastrophe for Republicans. There are always a bunch of Democrats and faux-Independents who crossover and "monkey-wrench" vote for the weakest possible Republican candidate.

Closed primary elections, where voters can only vote for candidates of the party in which the voter is registered, are a reasonable approach. That shuts out the "Independents" and is completely justified. If they want a voice in the selection of candidates, they should form their own parties and promote their own candidates.

Everybody gets to vote in the general election. Once. Dead people, imaginary people, non-citizens, and non-residents excluded of course. The Democrats will object to that last bit as "voter suppression". TFB for them.

28 posted on 01/16/2024 1:02:02 PM PST by flamberge (We are living in those "interesting times" the elders warned us about.)
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To: erlayman

I’m not sure that’s a good thing.


29 posted on 01/16/2024 1:02:45 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: nd76

43% of Iowa Nikki Haley voters said they would vote for Joe Biden if Trump was the GOP nominee.

Vote for Biden?

90% of those clowns are Democrats.


30 posted on 01/16/2024 1:04:40 PM PST by zeestephen (Trump "Lost" By 43,000 Votes - Spread Across Three States - GA, WI, AZ)
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To: mbrfl

Caucuses are easier in small states. They would be almost impossible in a large, urban state. Too many people working too many shifts.


31 posted on 01/16/2024 1:04:53 PM PST by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
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To: flamberge

>>”I sound just like a Democrat!”

No, not really. Caucuses don’t deny any registered party member the right to attend. But they do tend filter out, as you say, the less informed. Voting in a primary takes less effort than voting in a caucus. In the general election, voting should be as convenient as possible without sacrificing security. A part nomination is a different animal. Having a more well-informed subset of the party choosing the nominee is a very republican (small r) concept.


32 posted on 01/16/2024 1:12:14 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: Vermont Lt

Fair point. Perhaps having both a morning caucus and an evening caucus might provide a solution. Voters could choose the one which fits their schedule better. At the end of the night the two totals would be combined to give the final result.


33 posted on 01/16/2024 1:15:52 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: mbrfl

WA did a caucus once and it was a shit show.


34 posted on 01/16/2024 1:17:50 PM PST by rickomatic
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To: mbrfl

Strange. I wonder why Rush would say that.

Here’s the article:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4210383/posts


35 posted on 01/16/2024 1:18:53 PM PST by enumerated (81 million votes my ass)
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To: enumerated

Hmmm. Yes, it’s strange. This article from CNN contradicts Rush’s comment. Yes, I know it’s CNN, but this is not an opinion article, but just an explanation of the mechanics of the process.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/politics/iowa-caucus-explainer-voting-dg/index.html


36 posted on 01/16/2024 1:23:54 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: Responsibility2nd

Iowa almost never chooses the candidate. What it does is give unknowns exposure and ends weak candidates completely, despite how much money they spend.

Caucuses are party processes and remove interference by opposition parties acting through the legislature.


37 posted on 01/16/2024 1:28:49 PM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: mbrfl

Right. I agree, CNN seems to be right about this.

I just found a Wikipedia history that says from 1979 to 2015 Iowa also had a Straw Poll several months before the Caucuses. Maybe Rush was confusing the two.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucuses


38 posted on 01/16/2024 1:33:50 PM PST by enumerated (81 million votes my ass)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Do we really like the idea of a bunch of Iowans choosing who the candidate is going to be?

Compared to a bunch of Californians? Certainly.
39 posted on 01/16/2024 1:33:57 PM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
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To: enumerated

Interesting. Yes, I guess that explains it.


40 posted on 01/16/2024 1:38:47 PM PST by mbrfl
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