I think caucuses are basically hardcore Party members getting together and debating who they should vote for. If your candidate does not get 15% then your vote does not count and must vote for someone else and that is when the campaigning begins for the lesser candidates like Bush.
The Dims still have that electioneering process and the 15% threshold.
The GOP basically just has a secret ballot—write Trump on it and put it in the box.
Someone who is an actual caucus organizer in Iowa explained it to me.
It's why the Republican caucuses take relatively little time compared to D's. Republicans respect the voice of the voter who chooses a smaller-polling candidate. D's try to force them to switch.
No, the total votes go straight to the candidates selected by the voters. People who show up at caucus already know who they are voting for. Persuasion is not much good in most cases. With a persistent lobbyist, tell him to go you no where...not that I have ever encountered one.
And caucusing is about 1000 times easier than navigating the LA freeways. 99% is showing up, and and last 1% is writing candidates on a pieces of paper to be counted by several people in that caucus group.
That’s how the DEMOCRAT caucus works, not ours.
Ours is simple. YOu go into a room. You listen to speeches and discuss the candidates. Then you vote, usually with private ballot. There is no cajoling, there is no 15% threshold. It’s simple and fair.
You do have to speak up and say why you’re voting for someone...and people hear you, and if you’re influencial and a good speaker you can sway a lot of people for your guy.
I recall as a Freshman in a Fraternity. They had elections. We were in this large room and the entire Fraternity was there freshman to seniors. They discussed the candidates. Some of us had made our minds up, but they would bring the candidate, let’s say for VP came into room and we’d ask question of why he should VP etc. He’d leave, and you’d hear people from both sides talking him up or down.
That night I think I changed my mind on who to vote for ten times...
I bet, on a larger scale, that’s what Iowa Caucusing is all about...