[aruanan]

Pinging the three sharpest analysts I know on FR: why again do y’all think FL moved their primary up, at the expense of half their delegates?

Did FL move the primary up after having been told, "Hey, if you do this, we're cutting half of your delegates" and the FL folks said, "We don't care. It's price we're willing to pay to be right behind South Carolina, and New Hampshire, and Iowa."

[txhurl]

That’s the Q: have things gone the way the people who moved it up thought they would or just exactly the opposite? Do the mover-upper regret or are vindicated by that decision?

[jjotto]

Iowa doesn’t lose delegates because no delegates are apportioned. It’s a non-binding straw vote.

Money talks. Giving up delegates to get campaign cash is an easy choice for some. Campaigns spent $15 million in Iowa (3 million population). Florida spending could easily be 10 times that much!