Iowa Caucus Chaos Is Gift To Trump (UPDATE ADDED)
[guest post by Dana]
While we still don’t know which Democrat will come out ahead in the caucus results, we do know that Trump views the disaster as a solid win for himself:
The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020
From CNN:
The Democratic 2020 crusade to oust President Donald Trump could not have got off to a more disastrous and embarrassing start.
The party couldn’t even deliver a first-in-the-nation election night winner after a vote-reporting debacle in Iowa — where candidates spent months and millions of dollars vying for a glittering opening prize in their nominating duel.
[…]
The caucus nightmare also played right into the hands of a President spoiling for months to brand his rivals as weak, disorganized and even worse — plotting to rig the results to hand its crown to an establishment favorite. There’s little doubt that Trump, who consistently erodes distrust in institutions and governing systems, will weaponize such a narrative if it looks like he will lose in November.
The President pounced on the confusion early Tuesday morning.
“The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Trump operatives are already spinning conspiracy theories and disinformation about what the Iowa Democratic Party said were “inconsistencies” in its results. Their aim is to create a narrative that tars the eventual nominee as illegitimate. And on the eve of his State of the Union address and two days before he’s set to be acquitted in his impeachment trial, things cannot have worked out better for the President.
“It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said, gleefully wringing every last drop of political advantage out of the Democratic blushes.
It could be that after the countless twists of the campaign and changes of fortune, Monday’s snafu — apparently by a vote-reporting app — will be a distant memory by November, especially if one of the candidates turns Trump into a one-term president. Democrats will get the last laugh then.
But there must also be questions about whether the Iowa mess is isolated — or augurs a party ill-equipped in the states to take on Trump’s formidable turnout machine, which is being built with his massive campaign war chest. And the importance of Iowa in the process of choosing a president magnifies the cost of its terrible night on Monday.
Details of the disaster:
Mandy McClure, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the delays were the result of quality checks and the fact the party was reporting three sets of data for the first time. She said the party did find inconsistencies in the three data sets — the first round, the second round and the overall delegate numbers.
“We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,” she said in a statement.
“This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results,” McClure said.
More than 7,000 people attended a Trump rally just last Thursday at Drake University in Des Moines.
As of this posting, results have still not been released.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
UPDATE BY PATTERICO: The Democrats say they weren’t hacked, and they would never lie (insert eyeroll emoji), but it’s still worthwhile to contemplate a scenario in which they were — by Russia, at the request of Donald Trump. (No, Trumpers, I am not alleging that. It’s a hypothetical to illustrate a point. Try to keep up.) I guess that would be OK, right? I guess that would be less than ideal but not impeachable, right? Also, if any Democrat president pulled such a stunt it would be the worst thing in history.
UPDATE #2: Results of 62% reported precincts:
The Iowa Democratic Party released partial results of its kickoff presidential caucus after a daylong delay on Tuesday showing former Midwestern Mayor Pete Buttigieg and fiery progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the opening contest in the party’s 2020 primary season.
[…]
It was too early to call a winner based on the initial results, but Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were trailing in the tally of State Delegate Equivalents, according to data released for the first time by the state Democratic Party nearly 24 hours after voting concluded. The results reflected 62% of precincts in the state.
Is anyone surprised that it’s a disaster?
Dana (aaddb1) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:43 amTrump is mistaken. The winner in this debacle is basically Biden, who was the front runner, and as far as the momentum is concerned, is still the front runner.
Iowa going for Bernie or someone else would have caused a lot of the also-ran supporters to rally to the not-Biden. But now if that happens, it will be more muddled.
Basically, they avoided the Obama Iowa 2008 win scenario. And Trump’s made it crystal clear: he is scared of Biden for some reason (that completely escapes me).
Dustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:50 amнет.
Dave (1bb933) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:50 amThe Iowa Democratic Party released a statement this morning. In part:
Dana (aaddb1) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:53 amI admire Trump’s chutzpah, dishing on the Dems when he knows full well that it was his CIA that sabotaged the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
And even if you don’t believe what I wrote above, you’ve got to [insert verb] how everything becomes about him.
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:58 amand no, I’m not surprised Iowa’s democrat primary is a mess. The whole concept here is to be different, instead of just a sober and secure poll of each voter’s preference.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s 2020 and we should get practical. Instead of the corn farmers in Iowa exploiting primacy, let’s just have a few regions of the country have a primary. Like five regions, five election day. Every primary run the same basic way. Two weeks between each region. Take the top two candidates (by EC until that’s done away with) and have a debate. The moderator just keeps it polite. The questions come from the candidates. The day after the debate, runoff election nationwide.
No delegates. No superdelegates. No caucuses. No gimmicks.
Dustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:58 amAnd the difference this year is that, in response to complaints about the Byzantine nature of the process last time (from Bernie), they are trying to keep track of and report the numbers of people choosing different candidates at the initial and final stages the process in each precinct, as well as the final result.
I agree with Dustin that rotating regional primaries would be a much more sensible system.
Dave (1bb933) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:05 amUPDATE BY PATTERICO: The Democrats say they weren’t hacked, and they would never lie (insert eyeroll emoji), but it’s still worthwhile to contemplate a scenario in which they were — by Russia, at the request of Donald Trump. (No, Trumpers, I am not alleging that. It’s a hypothetical to illustrate a point. Try to keep up.) I guess that would be OK, right? I guess that would be less than ideal but not impeachable, right? Also, if any Democrat president pulled such a stunt it would be the worst thing in history.
Patterico (115b1f) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:16 amBiden’s crew is unofficially saying they expect to be 3rd and some insiders say Biden didn’t clear 4th.
I don’t see how a question over whether Biden was 3rd or did worse, as opposed to knowing he did worse, helps him. It’s not a win when you flip the table and storm off. It’s wishful thinking that this is Biden maintaining his momentum. At best this is falling with style.
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:25 amnk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:58 am
I give you
Patterico (115b1f) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:16 am
Trump isn’t the only one making everything about Trump.
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:29 amit’s still worthwhile to contemplate a scenario in which they were — by Russia, at the request of Donald Trump. (No, Trumpers, I am not alleging that. It’s a hypothetical to illustrate a point. Try to keep up.) I guess that would be OK, right?
This is a silly and ridiculous comparison. There was zero evidence that Russia interfered in our elections by tampering the votes or the actual voting process or the counting of the votes. The only “interference”, as such was alleged, was the standard attempts to get information to be used for whatever purposes that they, and many of our so-called allies, also attempt to get information. Be it for current usage or further down the road. Because it’s useful in many, many other ways. Who here said it was “OK” that the Russians attempted to get into the DNC? There were those who said the effect of gathering such information was insignificant in its impact on 2016, but not, to my knowledge, and I say this as someone who was accused of this, that it was OK.
PTw (894877) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:34 amThis is a silly and hysterical (in a couple of ways) comparison. What is so hard about understanding this difference? Why the conflating?
After this app debacle, the admonition for Democrats to “learn to code” takes on a whole new meaning.
Paul Montagu (e1b5a7) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:35 amNow, now, frosty, you should know by now that I am careful with my language, and everything I say means exactly what mean it to say, no more and no less. I wrote:
Not:
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:38 amAnd Trump’s made it crystal clear: he is scared of Biden for some reason (that completely escapes me)
Biden is the stop loss option for 2 groups that Trump has been hoping to cement gains with – rust-belt older whites and blacks. Biden is also perhaps the only of the Dems with a scant shot at the southern coastal states TX, LA+Bel Edwards as VP, GA, FL, NC (due to black support and also not as much of a gun grabber as Bloomie). And as DCSCA would say…soon-to-be victims of their respective vices.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:41 amwhooosh
Dustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:42 amThe idea of Russia hacking the Iowa caucuses is extremely plausible. The idea the Democrats wouldn’t, um, pounce on this if there was the barest chance of it being true is not at all believable.
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:43 amOne suggested etymology for “caucus” is the Latin caucus from Greek kaukos, a wine cup, and the namesake of the Caucus Club of Boston which is the earliest appearance of the word, 1719. So, to put it bluntly, maybe they were drunk?
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:45 amNo one ever said that. Russia did, of course, meddle with our election. They did it to help Trump. Trump obstructed the attempt to bring that to justice.
Facts that are only dismissed with ‘oh you’re saying russia hacked!?? that didn’t happen!!’
But Trump has asked Russia to engage in hacking when he asked them to reveal those classified Hillary emails.
And Trump has asked foreign governments to help him win in 2020, by doing him a favor by announcing an investigation against Biden.
What Frosty claims not to understand is that the mere momentum of headlines makes a big impact in primaries. But Trump gets it and uses that all the time (to Solemani’s dismay).
And Patterico’s point isn’t even about that. It’s about the idea that Trump is above the law or justice or democracy.
Dustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:46 amshot at the southern coastal states TX, LA+Bel Edwards as VP, GA, FL, NC (due to black support and also not as much of a gun grabber as Bloomie).
Not Florida.
The Democrats made an allout effort to elect a young black progressive as governor and to keep a relatively moderate white guy as senator…and lost to a GOP machine that managed to eke out just enough turnout to keep the governorship Republican (and Trumpy Republican at that) and give the Senate seat to a corrupt, arrogant, powerhungry outgoing governor who has trouble being friendly with his own party.
In November, it will be Trump vs TBA, and no statewide offices that I know of, which means the GOP will have an easier time of it. It’s not unlikely they’ll gain at least a couple of House seats back.
Kishnevi (6a5d3c) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:57 amDustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:46 am
What would be necessary to bring that to justice?
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:58 am“It’s a hypothetical to illustrate a point.”
Patterico (115b1f) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:16 am
Because there haven’t been enough bogus hypotheticals the past three years to draw on, we need to conjure up a new one.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:15 amI guess that would be OK, right? I guess that would be less than ideal but not impeachable, right?
18 USC 1030 and 2.
Next question?
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:22 am21. So you’re saying you don’t apply different standards to Dems than you do to Trump?
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:23 amBut Trump has asked Russia to engage in hacking when he asked them to reveal those classified Hillary emails.
Seriously? You seem to have a problem understand the concepts of cause and effect, and time.
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:24 am“Because there haven’t been enough bogus hypotheticals the past three years to draw on, we need to conjure up a new one.”
Saw more restraint on MSNBC last night.
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:43 am_
No, it’s not “worthwhile” now and a massive formal investigation proved it never was.
MJN1957 (0140eb) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:47 am18. Dustin (d1c60a) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:46 am
No, the “nonwork” therefore”personal” emails she said she deleted.
So there shouldn’t not ave been an copies of them , certainly not online.
But they may have been on Anthony Weiner’s computer that later became the subject of a search warrant.
The FBI did a computer search that carefully avoided the possibility of stumbling across anything incriminating.
Trumop likes to say he said do “us” a favor and that he meant the country. It was also a specific allegation that he wanted Zelensky to find out about: That Joe Biden had, singlehandedly, caused Ukraine to fire a prosecutor in order to stop an investigation because his son worked for a company, and that Biden had bragged about stopping the prosecution in a recording that Donald Trump himself had heard.
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 8:55 amI have a friend who’s in the Iowa GOP, his wife went Dem because Trump.
She was at a precinct last night and was told that last night was the ‘beta test’ for the troublesome app. If true, lolololol.
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Jeremy Bird
@jeremybird
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Once you hear the phrase “trouble downloading today,” it is not the technology. That is a training/planning/organizational problem. Should have had multiple dry runs & zero people should have been downloading anything on caucus night.
_
On a side note, there seem to be a lot of Dems using this as an argument to end the scheduling (going first) for IA.
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 9:44 am_
Trump obstructed the attempt to bring that to justice.
Three years of investigation by the FBI, DoJ, and the Mueller crew, concluded President Trump, his staff, or campaign, had any contact with any foreign entity attempting to insert themselves in the 2016 election. In fact, no American could be identified in any foreign contacts.
Let that be an example of the leftist thought process
iowan2 (1c4a14) — 2/4/2020 @ 9:46 amWe’ll never learn the truth (the art of politics is keeping the voters from sticking their noses where they don’t belong), but this sounds like a very well-organized, professional, black bag operation to me.
— Sabotaged app.
— No testing.
— No training.
— (I would have included fake PINs on the forms and who’s to say they didn’t?)
— Robo dialers to jam the phone lines.
— Paper forms designed to look like they’ve been altered by the way the data is entered.
Well done, Ms. Haspel!
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:00 amI’m not a leftist, iowan. I have been commenting here for years, to the exhaustion of many readers, and I want a balanced budget and a limited government. Only a liar would call me a leftist.
Mueller’s reported clearly and plainly detailed obstruction of the investigation into Russia’s meddling with the 2016 election, and Trump encouraged that meddling and hacking on live TV. He made contact and you saw it.
You are wrong. You know you are wrong. You dismiss this as leftist the same way many enemies of our republic have used partisan othering and alliances to muddy waters.
I would (and have) criticized the left election misconduct. Indeed I have worked in election law for a presidential candidate and in other capacities for other candidates (always the GOP, though that time is long, long done, and I’m too conservative to be a republican now).
A 100% dishonest comment by you today. Think about why you wish I were on the left, and consider that that means in November.
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:06 amTalking Points Memo
@TPM
Charlatans, Conspiracists And The Trump Boys Seize On Iowa Debacle
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WOW!
@WOW61106184
·
They didn’t need to ‘pounce’ or ‘seize’.
The Democrats gifted it to Everyone with their utter incompetence!!!
They bragged about spending 3 years working on the Iowa caucus!
That’s real scary!
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Zentrification
@Zentrification1
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Should have included “Caucus” in this as that seized as well.
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Butticus Pinch
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:10 am@MarkBro52115082
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Pay no attention to the debacle behind the curtain.
_
There was Manafort working with a Russian spy (Kilimnik), giving the guy internal polling data, including data on the three battleground states that Trump barely won. The Mueller report concluded that there was evidence but not to the level of confidence. There was the meeting with Veselnitskaya that showed intent, until she pulled a bait-and-switch.
Paul Montagu (e1b5a7) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:11 amTrump was concerned enough about Mueller that he obstructed justice on ten separate occasions.
App-ocalyptic destruction of the Democratic party in Duh Moines, in a state now known as an acronym for Idio Out Walking Around (IOWA).
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:12 amPaul Montagu (e1b5a7) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:11 am
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:06 am
You guys should let Schiff know about that so that he can get it into the next round of impeachment.
In the meantime, I’ll get a snack while I wait for the Iowa DNC to let me know how bad Biden did and the media to tell me how he really came out on top and/or why it doesn’t matter.
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:18 amThis is a sample precinct report supplied by the Buttigieg campaign_ where you see numerous errors made i the process of filling out the form. (they should have had spare forms – wait – maybe this was a spare form? It is labeled “Caucus Form Worksheet.” Well, t still dodn’t wind up being out completely correctly.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EP551MCW4AACCJM?format=jpg&name=medium
The form was filled out too quickly. The person who filled it out also started to write down the last names of the candidates in the wrong column. Wrote Bennett and then Bi on the next line and then caught himself or herself. Probably thought at first that the first blank was for the first name and the second blank for the second name. So wrote Michael Bennett and Joe Bi– Then realized it was a mistake, probably at the point when he or she was going to check the total for Biden and realized there was no place left to put it in, and crossed out the “Bennett” and the “Bi” and squeezed in Bennett in the first blank after Michael. There was room enough for Biden after Joe in the first blank.
The remaining candidates, starting with Bloomberg, just had their last name filled in in the first blank space. They must have had an official list of candidate in alphabetical order.
At the end, the organizer probably entered the 0’s after he had filled in the number for those who had numbers. Those candidates who got nobody for them got a 0 in the second column, but the organizer forgot to fill in a 0 for Bennett because he’d already filled in and crossed out Bennett’s last name in that place, so to a casual eye, the form looked filled out completely.
The number for total number of caucus attendees was corrected repeatedly and then at the end of the first round, 15% was calculated and filled in. The total was maybe not supposed to change after the first alignment, but it did, from 69 to 70. The cause of that was the total for Biden in the first alignment being revised down from 19 to 18.
The reason for that could have been that one caucus-goer was trying to avoid being locked in after the first alignment. All people in a viable group were locked in. Only those who had joined a non-viable group, or who were uncommitted (which was supposed also to be a group) could switch.
Or it could have been that somebody just got separated from the group temporarily. Or there was a miscounting.
In the report for the second alignment, the organizer first wrote down the total for Warren from the first alignment (18) before correcting it to 20.
The original results were 22 for Buttigieg, 18 for Biden, 13 for Warren, 6 for Sanders, 5 for Steyer, 3 for Klobuchar and 2 for Yang, and 1 not counted, but after re-alignment were 30 for Buttigieg and 20 each for Biden and Warren. Of the 17 who were not frozen in place, 8 went to Buttigieg, 7 went to Warren, and 2 went to Biden, probably including the one who had earlier left.
Because of the change in the total from 69 to 70, the results before rounding, both for the number needed to be viable and for the number of delegates each candidate was entitled to, were wrong, but not by much.
The number 3.4782 should have been 3.4783, because the number should was truncated when it should have been rounded, (but it is also wrong because it should have been 3.4286)
The number of delegates to the next higher level convention split 4 for Bttigieg and 2 each for Bdiden and Warren, but if Biden and Warren were one candidate, it probably would split 5 for that person to 3 for Buttigieg.
10.35 (the result of multiplying 69 by 15%) was rounded up to 11. It really should be 70 x 15% or 10.5, but it still rounds up to the same number. It’s always rounded up because a caucus group comprising less than 15% cannot elect any delegates even if the total he or she gets falls just below 15%
The disclosure of the PIN number doesn’t matter, since it was already used. Any corrections after that wold probably require voice contact and other verification.
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:53 amIf any Democratic politician behaved like this during the national anthem, we would never hear the end of the outrage from Trumpsters.
Radegunda (0eb6fa) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:09 am30. nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 10:00 am
It can;t be excluded as a possibility that somebody knew this wouldn’t work.But this could have happened for a variety of reasons.
It does indeed remind me of healthcare,gov. If there is anything at fault here that you can attribute as a flaw in the Democratic Party in general it might be the idea that you can buy things off the shelf (and rely on fear of the government to prevent things not working or fraud)
You can buy groceries and gasoline that way, but not so much unique or expensive things. And as far as let’s say avoiding adulterated milk is concerned, there is a large market and you can say somebody will catch it before me, but here there was no larger market.
They tested for various highly unlikely scenarios, but not how it would work in practice.
There was training, but it was somewhat confusing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/opinion/how-the-iowa-caucuses-work.html
And the training, you can see here, was for how to do the caucus, not how to report the results. Maybe the caucus captain was supposed to get separate training, or maybe these people didn’t think anyone would need training as to how to download an app. Or when. Not all at once. But the app had abug in it too.
The PIN has to be communicated to the person who will use it. You could put it on a separate piece of paper in a separate envelope.
They were jammed because olanning was done on the basis that most precincts would use the app.
Well you could see the alterations.
One check is to report more numbers than you need, so you check if the math adds up. They did do that, and it seems like it didn’t always.
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:16 am@14. =ring-ring= Hello, Plagiarist Joe, this is April calling to remind you you’ll be dropping out in March.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:28 amApparently the Biden campaign is seeking an injunction to halt this afternoon’s partial release of Iowa results. Obvious inference: the Biden campaign knows that he ‘underperformed’ there.
The amused Dana (b49bca) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:38 amBiden doesn’t have to drop out if he doesn’t do so well, but he’s running himself into a financial hole. And Trump’s accusation or suspicion, much amplified by the House impeachment, may be hurting him. That;s probably not what Nancy Pelosi wanted to accomplish.
Biden does not directly hit at the accusations:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/joe-biden-scolds-nbc-savannah-guthrie-hunter-biden-question
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:45 amI like that Trump fans are really motivated to get Biden, even though Bernie is probably the most lefty of the bunch. They don’t mean to do it… they are just reflexively spamming whatever they are told. I wonder how much Putin pays for this stuff.
Granted, Biden was supposed to do very poorly in Iowa, and he is a pretty absurd candidate, but if I had to choose from Warren, Biden, or Bernie?
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:47 am@25. After an hour or two it was pretty obvious the pundit peanut gallery across the cablers were more miffed they literally had nothing to talk about, dissect, analyze, project or compare to past performance and had to vamp banter and bull crap back and forth for four or five hours.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:47 amhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/iowa-democratic-party-release-majority-caucus-results-tuesday-afternoon-n1129916
Thwy’re promising “more than 50%”
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:49 amButtigieg said last night: “By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.”
But he;s less strong about it now:
In New Hampshire: “The hope that propelled me into this campaign is vindicated every day. It was vindicated in a big way last night when we had a chance to quiet those questions of whether we belong in this effort in the first place.”
Bwrnie Sanders sounds like he thinks he was in the lead.
“I don’t know how anybody declares victort before you have an official statement as to election result, so we’re not declaring victory. As of now, I think we’re in quite good shape.”
Also:
“I think we should all be disappointed in the inability of the party to come up with timely results but we are not casting aspirations on the votes that are being counted. There’s no excuse for not having results last night but that doesn’t mean to say that the totals that come in will be inaccurate. I think this is not a good night for Democracy.”
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:55 amThe rubes can’t add.
That blue-green ice that falls from the skies– it’s a gift from God, too, Iowans– just for you.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:57 am“ After an hour or two it was pretty obvious the pundit peanut gallery across the cablers were more miffed they literally had nothing to talk about, dissect, analyze, project or compare to past performance and had to avoid using the terms ‘incompetent’, ‘chaos’, ‘disservice’, ‘SNAFU’, ‘dumpster fire’ and ‘cluster’ for four or five hours.”
FYP
_
The most hilarious meme I’m seeing pushed today is the Dems, after three years of trying to nullify an election and after a couple of weeks declaring Trump is now king and he has effectively torched the constitution, saying he needs to be bipartisan tonight.
I hope he is but he probably isn’t in the mood, considering.
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:21 pm@47. “… and had to avoid using the terms ‘incompetent’, ‘chaos’, ‘disservice’, ‘SNAFU’, ‘dumpster fire’ and ‘cluster’ for four or five hours.”
Actually they did use those terms, increasingly, into the wee hours, PST.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:32 pm1. When, precisely, did Democrats begin impeachment proceedings?
Radegunda (0eb6fa) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:36 pm2. Who would become president if Trump were removed?
3. Did the Republicans who impeached Bill Clinton try to nullify an election?
4. Were the people who called for impeaching Obama attempting to nullify an election?
5. Was the lawyer who called for impeaching Hillary Clinton before she was even elected aiming to nullify an election?
6. Or: does impeaching or investigating or criticizing a president amount to an assault on democracy only when the president is named Donald Trump?
I don’t disagree with you, but back in the 90s, Democrats said that very thing. They claimed over and over that Republicans were trying to nullify the 1996 election. Of course they were wrong, but they’re hardly in a position to squawk about Republicans making a similar charge today.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:57 pmDustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 11:47 am
Why would any non-D waste effort attacking Bernie? The D’s are already doing the heavy lifting to sideline him. Of the D candidates, it’s also probably hardest for him to move to the middle if he wins the nomination.
I don’t know but my guess is that it’s less than what China pays.
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:03 pm…after a couple of weeks declaring Trump is now king and he has effectively torched the constitution…
Oh, gosh, Trump’s been doing all that for MUCH longer than two weeks!
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:10 pmRagspierre (d9bec9) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:10 pm
You would think the National Archives would have better fire suppression protocols.
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:16 pm“2. Who would become president if Trump were removed?“
Radegunda (0eb6fa) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:36 pm
The next guy to get impeached.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:20 pm“1. When, precisely, did Democrats begin impeachment proceedings?“
Radegunda (0eb6fa) — 2/4/2020 @ 12:36 pm
When did Stefan Halper and Azra Turk have a impromptu get together with Papadopoulos?
Munroe (dd6b64) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:30 pm“ Actually they did use those terms, increasingly, into the wee hours, PST.”
Musta been pretty wee because after a couple hours switching between CNN, MSNBC and CNBC I shut it down at 1am (PST) and hadn’t heard any of them (except on Fox News, which I checked for about 10 min and saw ‘caucus chaos’ in a crawl. Their coverage of Warren, Buttigieg and Bernie statements was very even.
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:33 pmMeanwhile……
“ The two top officials overseeing Milwaukee’s host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention were sidelined Monday amid allegations of a toxic work culture….
……. In interviews with the Journal Sentinel over the weekend, two experienced political hands who have worked with the host committee described it as having a toxic culture rife with power struggles, backbiting and mismanagement.
They accused the top two officials, Gilbert and Alonso, of giving contracts to their friends in New Jersey, calling meetings and then failing to attend them and being more focused on accumulating power than promoting Milwaukee.”
https://amp.jsonline.com/amp/4645443002?__twitter_impression=true
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Tim Stoner
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:36 pm@timothystoner
·
The convention is here in Milwaukee. The 2nd ballot should be a hoot when the Super Delegate 17% voting block gets to anoint the winner. I’m stocking up on popcorn.
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Corruption! Booty gave the company shadow who handles Iowa caucus software app $50,000 to fix Iowa and nevada. Looks like he is getting his moneys worth. Corrupt biden comes in last!
asset (e84f27) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:43 pmSince he was diligent enough to report the expenditure to the FEC, is it still corrupt?
Dave (060f26) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:52 pmIn their desperation not to throw any bone to FIB dems from the immediate south, the cheesers cast their lot with an even more-mobbed up cesspool.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 2/4/2020 @ 1:52 pm56.Yeah, you shudda staye oger or listened closer: the CNN/Cuomo and MSNBC crew were tossing around ‘cluster —”chaos’ and ‘incompetence’ fairly regularly- Matthews did a full court press on blaming Iowa. Fox— they were just gloating.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:11 pmBecause Bernie represents the greatest actual threat to our way of life. For the same reason, it is in Trump’s interest (but not America’s) that he be nominated.
Trump’s reliable crew of repeaters of propaganda are on board though. Biden is the one y’all are mad at.
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:13 pmMore than 7,000 people attended a Trump rally just last Thursday at Drake University in Des Moines.
What? Does he know there’s a Moscow, Iowa rarin’ to rally???
‘Trump was widely mocked in a since-deleted tweet Sunday evening following the[Super Bowl] Chiefs’ win, in which he praised the “Great State of Kansas” for the victory while not mentioning Missouri, the actual home of the team, in the tweet at all.
Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill [D] as one of those ridiculing Trump over the message, calling him a “stone cold idiot.”
It’s Missouri you stone cold idiot. pic.twitter.com/O1cAAOFsJ6
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:21 pm— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) February 2, 2020‘ -source, The Hill
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:13 pm
There are a lot of baked-in assumptions there. Namely, that Bernie is the D version of Trump. The not-a-Democrat who wins the nomination and then goes on the win the election.
Although, how crazy is it that a rich commie with a bad heart could be our savior from Trump?
frosty (f27e97) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:29 pmAlthough, how crazy is it that a rich commie with a bad heart could be our savior from Trump?
FDR could tell you to ask Stalin– but Josef died of heart failure.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:34 pmWith 75% counted, it looks like 60K makes for a great initial investment.
urbanleftbehind (db13b1) — 2/4/2020 @ 2:36 pmHere’s a better analogy than Patterico’s. Suppose there was evidence that Vice President Biden had pressured Russians to cover up possible corruption. Suppose President Trump now pressured Putin to investigate this possible corruption. Would that have been an impeachable act by Trump?
David in Cal (f8ea8c) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:12 pmMcCaskill always spouting the knowledge:
[tweets photo of Ben Carson on plane w other republicans, seeking to portray it as somehow racist]
Claire McCaskill
@clairecmc
One of these things is not like the others. Hint: they made him squat in the aisle so he was visible.
__ _
#ThePersistence
@ScottPresler
Did you just call a black man a “thing”?
Wow.
I’m so glad you lost your seat in the Senate.
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Julio Rosas
@Julio_Rosas11
·
It’s more diverse than the Democratic debate stage.
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Donald Trump Jr.
@DonaldJTrumpJr
· 2h
Hi Claire,
Two problems with your tweet:
1. Dr. Ben Carson did not have a seat in this pic because he was sitting in First Class with my family
2. Dr. Carson is not a “thing,” he is a world renowned, life-saving neurosurgeon
Anyway, how’s unemployment?
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:15 pm_
My main concern is that I have a nephew in Alaska and now that Trump’s going to sell Alaska I’ll have to learn to speak Russian to talk to my nephew.
Jerryskids (702a61) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:46 pmSuppose President Trump now pressured Putin to investigate this possible corruption. Would that have been an impeachable act by Trump?
If Duh Donald followed proper procedures using the right channels, nope.
If he did what he did with Ukraine, you damn betcha.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:46 pm@DonaldJTrumpJr
Must run in the family: McCaskill’s not unemployed, you ‘stone-cold-idiot’–she get a check from NBC– just like your Daddy did for many, many years.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:49 pmI’ve updated post with a report from the AP on the caucus results of the 62% of precincts reporting.
Dana (aaddb1) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:52 pm“UPDATE #2: Results of 62% reported precincts:
Delegates Percent Count
Pete Buttigieg 10 26.9% 363
Bernie Sanders 10 25.1% 338
Elizabeth Warren 4 18.3% 246
Joe Biden 0 15.6% 210”
_
FOX is reporting the same numbers and it has ‘100%’ in the corner
https://twitter.com/karol/status/1224817873929080834?s=20
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:54 pm_
Trailing?! The update is who is TRAILING?! Someone tell me that Bernie Sanders is in the lead. Pleeeeeeze!
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:54 pmOhh. Not leading, but second-place. I would pay money to see Bernie Sanders go up against Trump. The entertainment value alone would be first-rate! Cranky Commie vs. Manhattan Socialite-cum-Real Estate Mogul. You could pay-per-view the debates!
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:55 pm“ I would pay money to see Bernie Sanders go up against Trump.“
It’s not inconceivable that, as the Obama idiocy gave us the Trump madness, the Trump madness may give us the Cultural errrr, Bernie Revolution.
As to entertainment value, each Dem seems to have a team of comedy writers (tho maybe not as hilarious as McKaskill w her crayon).
Check out Fauxcahontas going Jason Bourne in Marseille as she gets out of a private jet:
https://twitter.com/Cam_Cawthorne/status/1224815010683203584?s=20
harkin (d6cfee) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:02 pm_
lol
Dustin (b8d6d1) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:08 pm“If Duh Donald followed proper procedures using the right channels, nope.”
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 2/4/2020 @ 3:46 pm
Right, those “Viva le Resistance” channels.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:13 pmI would pay money to see Bernie Sanders go up against Trump.
Why pay- you can likely find youtube video someplace to see Steady Eddie Koch go up against Trump in the ’80s. Same differnce.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:13 pm79. Naw. When it comes to raw communist agitprop, I have yet to see a Dem who has Bernie beat. And besides that, I was a kid when Koch was presiding over NYC’s descent into s**tholedom.
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:18 pm31. Mueller’s reported clearly and plainly detailed obstruction of the investigation into Russia’s meddling with the 2016 election, and Trump encouraged that meddling and hacking on live TV. He made contact and you saw it.
The Mueller report listed 10? events and declared they were unable to make the determination they met the elements of obstruction. A real lawyer would know that. Mueller was under instruction to make charging, or declination decisions on his investigation. Mueller refused, even after Barr told him it was his job. But a more important determining factor, Schiff refused to write an article of impeachment including from the Mueller report. Schiff, by all account a very good lawyer, was not going to put himself in a position to defend the obstruction charges against the President lawyers.
iowan2 (1c4a14) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:20 pmAnd President Trump from the political stump mocking Clinton’s wife over her private e mail server she used to conduct official State Department business, is just that a joke. Stop making yourself a joke by misrepresenting the facts
So from the vote numbers, it looks like Der Bernmeister got shafted again. He is well ahead of Booty in raw first round votes (27,088 to 23,666) and slightly ahead in final round votes, but still behind on delegates.
No wonder Comrade Lenin wasn’t having any of this “democracy” crap…
Dave (060f26) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:37 pm82. Ironic, isn’t it? It’s the communist who’s getting screwed blued and tattooed. Poetic, even!
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:39 pmIn hindsight, Guido and Fredo should be glad Daddy “Merrio” ended up not beating Ed Koch in 77. I bet you the Joker film version of events would have actually happened.
urbanleftbehind (2641dd) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:39 pmI’ll vote for Sanders before Buttigieg.I’ll vote for Trump before Buttigieg.
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:55 pmNote that the only candidate who scores well across all demographics is Buttigieg. Sanders gets almost no votes form 65+ and Biden does as poorly with the young.
If you are young with no college, want free medicine and international isolation, then Sanders is your guy.
Kevin M (8ae2cb) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:24 pmSuppose there was evidence that Vice President Biden was a tool of the credit card companies.
Kevin M (8ae2cb) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:25 pmHow much did those 0 delegates cost Bloomberg and Steyer? A simple division problem, right?
Kevin M (8ae2cb) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:27 pmZero.
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:32 pm82. Dave (060f26) — 2/4/2020 @ 4:37 pm
The “winner” of the Iowa caucuses isn’t determined by the popular vote.
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:33 pm90. In 2016, I’d say the winner of the Democratic primary wasn’t determined by popular vote. So if it wasn’t the people voting for Shillary, who was left to vote for her?
Gryph (08c844) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:41 pmReporting is saying the DNC came in and did all the counting today to generate the numbers we are now looking at. Still 62% reporting. It’s been 3.5 hours since the initial tallies were released. The voting ended at 22 hours ago and still no final numbers? The precincts that were selected out to generate this exact outcome? The reason we don’t know the final numbers?
Nothing like a good dose of transparency to calm the conspiracy rumors😂
iowan2 (1c4a14) — 2/4/2020 @ 5:45 pmGina wouldn’t be doing her job right if her operation only caused chaos for less than a day.
nk (1d9030) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:07 pmYou wouldn’t…
Dave (2c186f) — 2/4/2020 @ 6:13 pmPete 2020 / Re-Pete 2024
noel (4d3313) — 2/4/2020 @ 7:13 pmhttps://reason.com/2020/02/04/the-iowa-caucuses-have-always-been-terrible/
I agree with Suderman.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 2/5/2020 @ 3:49 amThe number of precincts whose results have been reported is now up to 71%. WOR Radip says that Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are tied, Elizabeth Warren is third and Joe iden shold be exoected to wind up with no delegates.
But the precise results may not matter at this point.
By the way they don’t usually begin totaling up delegates till after the first four states. They first started totaling up delegates in 1972, which was the year the early Iowa caucuses started. I
was surprised to see the New York Times featuring a whole page on 1972 race and they started writing about de;egates. They hadn’t in 1968
I think McGovern won that in 1972. Then, in 1975, Jimmy Carter campaigned in the state for whole year. He had greater name recognition there than Senator Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson (whose name recognition was only 10%, something reporters didn’t realize) but touted his popularity to being an “outsider”” He was on the front cover of the New York Times magazine twice about four weeks apart – in December of 1975 and January of 1976.
Sammy Finkelman (083d4c) — 2/5/2020 @ 4:06 amIn wake of the Iowa Democrat caucus, David French prefers MACA: Make America Competent Again.
Paul Montagu (e1b5a7) — 2/5/2020 @ 7:26 amWall Street Journal outline of the Iowa caucus process (before it was held but article was Updated Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 at 10:40 a.m. ET)
https://www.wsj.com/graphics/how-iowa-caucuses-work-2020
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/5/2020 @ 1:01 pm