• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Iowa 2008 Caucus Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

Wes

venison crêpe
I just saw an advert for detailed news coverage of the caucus on British TV to come. I've never seen that before and definetely didn't expect it basically because no one over here seems to understand the caucus system at all (me included!)

Strange amount of exposure over here.
 
E

eznark

Banned
-jinx- said:
Wait, eznark is a libertarian? Now it all makes sense.
Click to expand...

Nope, not really. I vote with my wallet the vast majority of the time. I like to think of myself as a pragmatic libertarian, but in reality i'm a free market individualist...I thought I already laid that out??
 
J

JayDubya

Banned
Triumph said:
Pinochet. Later we're going to have FREE MARKET VS. SCORCHED EARTH II: ELECTRIC BUGALOO when it's PINOCHET VS. SHERMAN: MARCH TO UNRESTRICTED SCORCHED EARTH MARKET TACTICS!
Click to expand...

Not really all that free market, only grudgingly so and with help, but he knew what to do with your kind. Check the filename. =P
 
E

eznark

Banned
JayDubya said:
I don't get the way they organize these folks, really. The political compass seems to do it better.

quiz.jpg
Click to expand...

Seems like the only criteria for social issues is gun control. Do you recognize the consitutuion? Yes? FAR RIGHT. Do you not, no? FAR LEFT.

Other than that, on what "social" issues are Guliani and the democrats THAT far apart on??
 
T

thekad

Banned
eznark said:
Seems like the only criteria for social issues is gun control. Do you recognize the consitutuion? Yes? FAR RIGHT. Do you not, no? FAR LEFT.

Other than that, on what "social" issues are Guliani and the democrats THAT far apart on??
Click to expand...

I think that whole "Freedom is about authority" thing kind of hurt him in that regard.
 
T

topsyturvy

Member
oh my god, i'm listening to conservative radio right now....brainwashing 101 at its finest. I can really see how someone with no political knowledge in iowa would go all out and vote conservative just because some fat guy told them to. I mean the constant hilary and obama bashing is NUTS.
 
T

Triumph

Banned
JayDubya said:
Not really all that free market, only grudgingly so and with help, but he knew what to do with your kind. Check the filename. =P
Click to expand...
Jesus, General Sherman and I love you though. Keep in mind, sometimes love HURTS, tho.
 
E

eznark

Banned
thekad said:
I think that whole "Freedom is about authority" thing kind of hurt him in that regard.
Click to expand...

I figured they'd rate people on issues (abortion, gay rights, gun control...) not overarching ideas on freedoms afforded through democracy.

Good for them.

Quick question, has anyone here read The Myth of the Rational Voter?
 
G

Gaborn

Member
Mandark said:
I'm saying that libertarians argue for the devolution of government responsibility from national to local levels, but that's mostly because they think that will reduce government authority overall.

When local governments step in with smoking bans, zoning laws, extra labor and business regulations, etc, libbies don't support it in the name of self-government. And I don't expect them to, or say they should.

For libertarians, the value of state and municipal administration over federal administration is that it's a means towards a miniarchist end. That's all I'm saying.



That, and don't make me bring up the last time we discussed DC, and you had your insane idea about how it was never meant to have any residential districts.
Click to expand...


I think you're right, but you don't understand WHY you're right. You're right that libertarians generally would rather see the authority to make decisions on issues like smoking bans etc on the state or local level, but then it does not follow that we must AGREE and ACQUIESCE with the decision the state or local government makes. Libertarians understand that when the federal government has the power to do something, the affect of whatever decision will have national implications. With state and local authorities making the decision it is generally far more likely that you're going to see differences rather than unanimity in enforcing different policies. It is much easier to get a local law changed than a state law, and it is much easier to get a state law changed than a federal law.

So the issue for us isn't the decision that is reached, as much as who has the power to make the decision, and THEN, when that decision is made do we agree with it on a personal level. Another way of looking at it, George W. Bush is my President. I also disagree with him on just about every issue, but he's still my President and I'd defend him in that capacity. My personal disagreements with Bush doesn't mean I don't recognize his authority, I simply disagree with him.
 
T

tanod

when is my burrito
eznark said:
I think that is an automatic fail of the tests proposed earlier.
Click to expand...

This isn't my first caucus. I've been a registered democrat for 7 years and proud of it.

Websters says it's a word.

and... ;_;
 
E

eznark

Banned
tanod said:
This isn't my first caucus. I've been a registered democrat for 7 years and proud of it.

Websters says it's a word.

and... ;_;
Click to expand...

Do you just sit there and holler at each other "Obama is the coolest, come over to my corner" or what? It seems like it would be a cool experience, if nothing else.
 
D

Dilbert

Member
eznark said:
Do you just sit there and holler at each other "Obama is the coolest, come over to my corner" or what? It seems like it would be a cool experience, if nothing else.
Click to expand...
"Red rover, red rover, vote Clinton, it's over!"
 
T

thefro

Member
Wes said:
I just saw an advert for detailed news coverage of the caucus on British TV to come. I've never seen that before and definetely didn't expect it basically because no one over here seems to understand the caucus system at all (me included!)

Strange amount of exposure over here.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxESw0lY0CE

Watch this.

It makes more sense when you realize about 100 years ago, the party bosses used to decide who the nominee was with no voting by the general public. The caucus is somewhere in-between that and a real primary.

Essentially these caucus delegates elect delegates to go to the convention and vote for the Presidential nominee.
 
Xdrive05

Xdrive05

Member
JayDub, why the huge vertical spread for your results? You're all the way libertarian in some cases and all the way authoritarian in others?
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
I've been through a few caucuses when I lived in Iowa. Grew up there and only moved out a few years back. It is indeed an interesting process. Very involved and the people who turn out tend to be educated, well informed, and passionate about issues.

In my case, there were times when two groups from different candidates would try to join together to possibly over take the candidate with the most support. I can't say that I saw a lot of shouting, but there is some great debate at times, and comparing of difference candidates.

Also, there are plenty of people who show up who don't have a candidate of choice yet, but are wanting to learn which one fits their interests best. They can be swayed into any of the camps as well. Really a fun and interesting process.

quadriplegicjon said:
i love how immigration seems to be such a huge issue in iowa. iowa??! its nowhere near a border!

:/

:.(
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter if they are near a border or not. There are a lot of immigrant workers in Iowa, and a lot of immigrants are not from countries that we actually, you know, share a border with.
 
P

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
Kung Fu Jedi said:
It doesn't matter if they are near a border or not. There are a lot of immigrant workers in Iowa, and a lot of immigrants are not from countries that we actually, you know, share a border with.
Click to expand...

really? didnt know that.. why would they flock to iowa?

and what percentage of those workers are illegal? because there is absolutely nothing wrong with legal immigrants.. since.. you know. thats how the US was built.
 
S

SRG01

Member
Posted yet?

The final Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll showed Obama, running to become the country's first black president, holding a statistically insignificant four-point lead over Edwards at 31 percent to 27 percent.

Clinton, the former first lady who would if elected be the country's first female president, slipped to third place at 24 percent. The survey carries a statistical margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
Click to expand...

Last updated 2:52EST though.
 
J

JayDubya

Banned
Xdrive05 said:
JayDub, why the huge vertical spread for your results? You're all the way libertarian in some cases and all the way authoritarian in others?
Click to expand...

Beats me. My Political Compass score is (9, -5). Which is Economic L / R ; Social Auth / Lib on a range from -10 to 10.

The quiz didn't have many questions. Probably abortion and immigration vs. everything else. I had some neutral / no opinion choices too, because some of them were wrong either way.

"Should we spend more on treating addiction or keeping drugs off the street?"

Um...
 
T

tanod

when is my burrito
eznark said:
Do you just sit there and holler at each other "Obama is the coolest, come over to my corner" or what? It seems like it would be a cool experience, if nothing else.
Click to expand...
It's not really like that. It's pretty civil. Most people going on know who they want to support. The only real advocacy I've seen happens when some candidate don't reach the viability threshold.


-jinx- said:
"Red rover, red rover, vote Clinton, it's over!"
Click to expand...
I'm totally using that.

I'm not gonna go into who I support but I have a strong inkling that Edwards has zero chance of winning Iowa. Turn out will be at record levels easily.
 
T

tanod

when is my burrito
KarishBHR said:
is it true that Biden and RIchardson supporters were told to choose obama as their second choice?
Click to expand...

I follow this stuff pretty closely and unless something happened today, the only official statement from a candidate was Kucinich urging his supporters to go to Obama.
 
E

eznark

Banned
tanod said:
I follow this stuff pretty closely and unless something happened today, the only official statement from a candidate was Kucinich urging his supporters to go to Obama.
Click to expand...

4 more people for Obama
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
quadriplegicjon said:
really? didnt know that.. why would they flock to iowa?

and what percentage of those workers are illegal? because there is absolutely nothing wrong with legal immigrants.. since.. you know. thats how the US was built.
Click to expand...

No clue how many workers are illegals, although when I was living there, the meat packing plants were getting raided on a regular basis for having illegal Mexican workers.

I do know that there were a lot of Eastern Europeans that were immigrating to Iowa as the weather was much like what they were use to back home. I never heard of many of them being illegals however.

A few years back, there was a big debate raging about giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens through, and people were pretty passionate about it, one way or another. Mostly against it though.
 
S

siamesedreamer

Banned
tanod said:
I follow this stuff pretty closely and unless something happened today, the only official statement from a candidate was Kucinich urging his supporters to go to Obama.
Click to expand...

All four of them.

Edit: Damn, beaten...
 
G

Gaborn

Member
I think it'll go Huckabee, Paul, Romney for the Republicans, and Obama, Edwards/Clinton (with those two incredibly close, I give Edwards a slight edge though so I put his name first).

I think the real story here is how the media is completely and totally ignoring Ron Paul as much as humanly possible despite his organization and cash. I think that he's going to get a surprising percentage of young/first time voters and I suspect he'll get some crossover from independents and Democrats who are more likely to be opposed to the War in Iraq. Remember that the Republicans are a VERY small percentage of the state so a slight shift could have a major effect.

For the Democrats I suspect most of the minor candidate's "second choices" will be Obama rather than Hillary. Hillary is such a well known phenomenon with such a national presence I suspect many of Iowa's democrats are either for her, or definitely going with Obama if they can't have their first choice candidate. I think with Edwards his popularity is mainly due to his constant ground presence in Iowa since the 2004 election, Iowa loves the door to door retail politics of these candidates.
 
T

tanod

when is my burrito
Prospero said:
Not exactly.

Obama will get Richardson's second-choice votes.
Click to expand...

Regardless of what candidate is their first choice, the majority of people at these caucuses aren't going to blindly follow their candidate's advice as to who their second choice should be. It just doesn't work that way.

If Ron Paul is depending on the youth vote, especially young Republicans, to turn out, he's completely DOA.
 
T

thefro

Member
I think in the entrance poll Ron Paul will be 3rd, but I forgot that the 2nd choice voters will go to McCain over Ron Paul. So I think Paul will be 4th.
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
All of you Ron Paul supporters moaning about his lack of attention need to rethink your gripe. The greatest campaign killer is EXPECTATION. Once a campaign begins to have certain expectations of how things will go .. there is nowhere else to go except for down. It's what did Dean in, in 2004. He had a respectable showing in 2004's campaign, but the expectation (or projection) had him much higher.

So, for one thing, you should hope that the media completely ignores this campaign and as the double digits roll in, the media will come around and call the campaign a success.
 
T

Triumph

Banned
thefro said:
I think in the entrance poll Ron Paul will be 3rd, but I forgot that the 2nd choice voters will go to McCain over Ron Paul. So I think Paul will be 4th.
Click to expand...
Except the Republicans don't caucus that way, just a straight vote.
 
S

Shawnwhann

Banned
Thx, siamesedreamer. Leaving home where I spent lunch was hard because I was pretty glued to my television set watching the latest developments.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Issue with management (Advice Needed)
Opinion Drama Community
39
2K
GeekyDad replied
Silly song lyrics thread.
5
311
INC replied
Jeffrey Epstein court documents release thread
News 2 3 4 5
227
18K
transformer replied
The current job market.
14
1K
indigo-cyclops replied
  • Poll
How much vram does your GPU have?
Hardware 2 3
124
4K
OverHeat replied
Top Bottom