WHAT is this?
What IS this?
What is THIS?
It is this.
I am appalled and depressed that someone could take the time to show up at the Iowa caucuses and not know Mayor Pete is gay--and then, upon finding that singular and much trumpeted fact she somehow missed--demand to have her ballot returned, which of course is not possible under caucus rules. That the woman is clearly a white Boomer only reenforces my view against my generation, though she is an extreme example of the ignorance and narrowmindedness among my set and my parents' set.
I listened, with even more sadness, how the beautiful and intelligent words from Mayor Pete's surrogate--God bless that surrogate!--were lost on this woman voter.
Saagar Enjeti on The Hill's Rising is correct that the Democrats' turnout of 172,000 is essentially the same as 2016, and that spells trouble for Democrats overall in Iowa--notwithstanding the Republican caucuses only had 32,000 attending, with 97% of the vote for Trump. Saagar is wrong, however, to think the wall-to-wall impeachment coverage on national cable news suppressed turnout, as Iowa local television covers the candidates extensively as they go through various Iowa towns and hold meetings, rallies, etc. For me, I simply have not believed Iowa would return in 2020 to the Democratic fold since it went for Trump in 2016, and have pinned my hopes on Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
As for Democratic Party legitimacy, it was not only the app snafu which is disconcerting. It is the fact Bernie, after 62% of the vote is officially counted, is the lead vote getter, but is somehow behind Mayor Pete in delegates, 363-338. I see stories of a coin flip in Des Moines Precinct 80, where Bernie won by nearly double the votes and yet the coin flip ended up with Bernie and Mayor Pete equal in delegates. I see stories of five delegates being divided up among five candidates where Bernie again has double the votes than the other candidates. I have long opposed caucuses as they have become too unwieldily and do not reflect voter interest in the same way a primary would, and everything that has happened thus far in the Iowa caucuses has reaffirmed that belief.
As for the conspiracy theory about the apps used to communicate Iowa caucus results to the Iowa Democratic Party, yes, it is true the app creator has a CEO and others affiliated with either Mayor Pete's campaign or DNC-Clintonites. Yes, the name of the company, Shadow, is sinister. Also, it does seem strange how Mayor Pete could claim he was "victorious" moments after the caucus ended, when mayor Pete has been shown to be consistently behind in the popular vote, and how he made that statement before the snafu arose in the app communications. And one must never forget how Mayor Pete met with DNC-Clintonite people last summer as he morphed from statements kind to Berniecrat democratic socialist philosophy to hardcore neo-liberalism of the Clinton-Obama type. But still, I see insufficient reason to conclude this app fiasco was a set up or done to do in Sanders. The caucus rules appear to be enough to go against Bernie, and Democratic Party elitists have reason to think they can still rely on lower turnouts and enough people being penned in by corporate media presentations into accepting what they don't want. As it is, the Nevada Democratic Party, which holds a caucus soon, has said it will now not use the app company.
I am hoping things get better for Sanders, based upon favorable polling data in New Hampshire, where there is a straight-forward primary. The same hope exists for me at the Nevada caucus, where Bernie has strong, strategic labor support from teachers, nurses, and the postal workers' unions. And Bernie leads in CA polling, and is catching up to Biden in Texas. There is no doubt Biden had a terrible night in Iowa by all accounts. Saagar's point that this is the most important takeaway is true, but it doesn't feel like it is sticking in people's minds. What may stick in people's minds is how Biden does in New Hampshire.
But my mind is still reeling at the ignorance and narrowmindedness of that Iowa caucus voter. Sigh.
