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2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)"What we can’t stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error" Des Moines Register. [View all]
This newspaper endorsed Hillary Clinton. They are proud of their state caucus, and this article shows that. They can not tolerate that "something smells" in the Democratic party caucus count.
Editorial: Something smells in the Democratic Party
What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy.
The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
First of all, the results were too close not to do a complete audit of results. Two-tenths of 1 percent separated Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. A caucus should not be confused with an election, but its worth noting that much larger margins trigger automatic recounts in other states.
Second, too many questions have been raised. Too many accounts have arisen of inconsistent counts, untrained and overwhelmed volunteers, confused voters, cramped precinct locations, a lack of voter registration forms and other problems. Too many of us, including members of the Register editorial board who were observing caucuses, saw opportunities for error amid Monday nights chaos.
The Sanders campaign is rechecking results on its own, going precinct by precinct, and is already finding inconsistencies, said Rania Batrice, a Sanders spokeswoman. The campaign seeks the math sheets or other paperwork that precinct chairs filled out and were supposed to return to the state party. They want to compare those documents to the results entered into a Microsoft app and sent to the party.
The article points out that Andy McGuire, Iowa Party chair, doesn't want to discuss, compare, or analyze.
McGuire knows whats at stake. Her actions only confirm the suspicions, wild as they might be, of Sanders supporters. Their candidate, after all, is opposed by the party establishment and wasnt even a Democrat a few months ago.
The article calls for a balance between tradition and transparency.
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"What we can’t stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error" Des Moines Register. [View all]
madfloridian
Feb 2016
OP
Here's the takeaway--if the IDP refuses to audit its own findings, then you have to wonder
TwilightGardener
Feb 2016
#1
Possibly. And an audit would reveal whether or not the mistakes favored one candidate. (nt)
jeff47
Feb 2016
#58
The head of Iowa Democratic Party is a Clinton supporter, fund-raiser and former campaign co-chair
CoffeeCat
Feb 2016
#36
What their campaign exactly said is: *There's no plan to look backwards* Tad Devine 2 Feb
JimDandy
Feb 2016
#64
By Tuesday the Iowa Party had already said they wouldn't be getting the raw data,
pnwmom
Feb 2016
#65
that state primaries are transparent is the biggest bunch of stink i have read today
questionseverything
Feb 2016
#82
This OP has the latest info, as of yesterday, that Sanders still wants the raw voter data
JimDandy
Feb 2016
#81
I wish I were. Someone here posted a pic of it a couple days ago, but I didn't bookmark it. - nt
KingCharlemagne
Feb 2016
#41
The story has changed multiple times, and then we were told it didn't even matter and wasn't
TwilightGardener
Feb 2016
#32
What about Sanders? After all, based on the facts above HE won six of seven coin tosses.
George II
Feb 2016
#44
Well, that the exact opposite we heard earlier. So which version do we trust?
madfloridian
Feb 2016
#74
I think it is probably an accurate statenent of the facts that the Iowa party is aware of.
Skinner
Feb 2016
#24
Exactly...McGuire could clear up all of these questions by providing the raw voter data. n/t
JimDandy
Feb 2016
#70
It seems pretty obvious that the system was likely gamed, and the actual results compromised.
NorthCarolina
Feb 2016
#7
This was Bernie's first caucus. This was the Combined-Clintons'..what--fourth?
TwilightGardener
Feb 2016
#11
The problem is, She has positioned her familiars at every key point in the process
Dragonfli
Feb 2016
#17
Her new problem is that after seeing it in '08 and yet again now, ppl are wising up
Dragonfli
Feb 2016
#28
so, you think the Leader of the Free World should be a street fightin' man? May I suggest:
Hiraeth
Feb 2016
#21
Oh, please. When tens of thousands of people and hundreds of counties are involved...
randome
Feb 2016
#22
Then there should be no problem with all parties laying their cards on the table. Easy enough then.
Ed Suspicious
Feb 2016
#54
This is exactly why the majority of Americans don't vote. They know the government and the electoral
liberal_at_heart
Feb 2016
#25
Maybe it's time for the primaries/caucuses to rotate. If we can't trust in the accuracy of the
A Simple Game
Feb 2016
#37
The absence of transparency and the absolutism of the party Chair suggests they don't really know
Ford_Prefect
Feb 2016
#38
The butt stupidest thing about this article is DNC delegates weren't even selected
Gman
Feb 2016
#46
Go talk to the Des Moines Register, tell them it's a "butt-stupid" article.
madfloridian
Feb 2016
#49
So a newspaper loudly lauded here a few days ago is now a "whiner"? Oh, my.
madfloridian
Feb 2016
#55
Do you know if any of the corporate media conglomerates; CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC etc. etc.
Uncle Joe
Feb 2016
#84
Wow! Read this from DKos by fladem who worked at the caucus. It's shocking.
madfloridian
Feb 2016
#85