Lola wrote:
Butrflynet, Your link took me to an error page. Can you help?
It seems to work again now!
From the article:
Quote:Noting that "my husband never did well in caucus states either," Clinton argued that caucuses are "primarily dominated by activists" and that "they don't represent the electorate, we know that."
To which I will just juxtapose:
And:
Quote:Updates from the Nebraska Democratic caucuses
9:30 a.m. Everyone is patient, but excitement reigns. [..]
The lines of people switching parties is long. Many said they were Republicans or independents who wanted to have a say in the presidential contest. Others wanted change.
"I'm basically fed up with the Republican debacle of this current system. I'm ready for something new," aaid Valada Powell, a Republican who filled out a form to become a Democrat before caucusing. [..]
9:46 a.m. The line is now about a block at Monroe Middle School and getting longer by the moment. People keep pouring in. [..]
9:51 a.m. It was wall to wall people at the Elkhorn campus of Metro Community College. "I didn't know there were this many Democrats in Nebraska," said Chris Colen, 40. [..]
10:21 a.m. Its time for "Plan B" at Monroe Middle School. The school has been overun with too many people and too little room in the school's auditorium. The plan now is to cuacus in the parking lot. [..]
10:27 a.m. Caucus sites are being overwhelmed across Omaha. Thousands upon thousands have shown up, eager to take part in this historic vote.
At the Elkhorn campus of Metro Community College Campus, the lines are wrapped around the building. [..]
11:17 a.m. At Metro in Elkhorn, "Plan B" was scrapped. An overflow room also became overran. Caucus leaders in Elkhorn are now allowing people to vote by a blue slip. [..]
11:30 a.m. Overrun by crowds, caucus organizers at Monroe Middle School declared a state of emergency. [..]
1:52 p.m. [..] Reports are coming in that the caucus site in Papillion is overhwhelmed. Thousands have turned up, when organized expected only several hundred. They are still registering. Traffic is backed up on Highway 370. [..]
2:06 p.m. [..] Results were expected by 3 p.m., but the crushing crowds and overwhelmed caucuses in both counties have forced officials to move that back 90 minutes.
2:35 p.m. [..] They were overwhelmed and sometimes outnumbered, but Douglas County Democrats say they are pleased.
Kris Pierce, with the Douglas County Democratic Party, says [it] wasn't until the last two weeks that interest in the caucus began to accelerate at warp speed [..]. "We went from expecting 3,000 to being prepared for 27,000 within 10 days" [..].
And:
Quote: Caucus first-timer finds chaos, satisfaction
Loop, 46, a novelist, had brought her family to experience a Washington state Democratic caucus with her. This was a first for them all [..].
Loop's first-timer experience has been repeated again and again across the country this election season as Americans show new interest in political processes that they have paid little attention to in the past. [..]
This being Seattle, they clutched their Starbucks cups as they joined the throngs. [..] The Democratic party knew to expect record numbers, and Dwight Pelz, the chair of the entire state party, was directing traffic himself. A volunteer boomed into the masses, "Do you know your precinct number?" Loop had no idea, but found a neighbor who did. "What do we do?" asked her husband. "Is this only for Democrats?" [..]
The family slowly made their way into the school's cavernous, but packed lunchroom, where the temperature had risen dramatically from the crush of people. The mood was festive, though, and Loop found at least a dozen friends and neighbors in the varied crowd. Her husband gave out friendly air kisses once they found their precinct table, and joked that booze was all they needed for a real block party. [..]
"It's cool to see absolutely everyone here," she said. [..] Her neighbor, Maggie Elkon, agreed. "This is like from the horse and buggy days!" [..] Jeff Lee, 48, a physician, couldn't believe the crowd was almost as thick even after an hour after the caucus began. [..]
Yep, "dominated by activists" is what these caucuses are...
Forget about all those news stories about record turnouts, often a factor of 2,3, hell, 10 times higher than in previous years.
Forget about the lines of first-time caucusers stretching around blocks, the overfilled venues that are moved and then moved again into larger spaces because of all those new caucusers who had never come before and had no experience.
Forget about the masses of Independent and Republican voters who registered as Democrats at the spot in order to caucus.
It's just "activists", is what it is.
The irony here, of course, is that if the caucuses had
really just attracted the trusty party activist faithful, Hillary would have won them. She got her best scores among regular caucus-goers.
It's the fact that the caucuses have drawn in so many
new people, so many non-activists, people who
havent been particularly politically engaged before, people who werent even registered as Democrats - it's thanks to those that Obama killed Clinton in the caucuses.
