Caucus Drives Latest Ruckus: Clinton Campaign Says System Is Undemocratic

[DeepModem Mom]

WSJ: March 6, 2008
Caucus Drives Latest Ruckus: Clinton Campaign Says System Is Undemocratic; Obama Camp Disagrees
By JUNE KRONHOLZ, BEN CASSELMAN and T.W. FARNAM
March 6, 2008; Page A7

Presidential nominating caucuses are older, cheaper and more citizen-driven than primaries. But Sen. Hillary Clinton is charging that they also are less fair, after her loss to Sen. Barack Obama Tuesday in the Texas caucuses despite winning the state's primary earlier in the day. The Clinton complaints against the Obama campaign almost assure that the caucus system will be part of the fight between the two Democrats before the August nominating convention -- and just as surely will become part of a Democratic Party review of the nominating system after the November elections.

Among other things, the Clinton campaign is charging that Obama supporters edged out Clinton supporters in the Texas caucuses by arriving early and either locking the doors or taking charge of the packets explaining how the caucuses were to proceed....

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Caucuses work to the advantage of a campaign that can turn out voters for a designated hour or two, usually on a weekday evening. A candidate's supporters meet at a central location, where only those who are present can cast ballots. Supporters divide into groups according to candidate. That system has benefited Sen. Obama, whose strongest support is among young voters, students and white-collar workers who have flexibility at work and aren't intimidated by the face-to-face nature of caucus politics. Clinton supporters, on the other hand, are generally older, less educated and working class, with less control over their work schedules -- a practical problem that Sen. Clinton has spoken of in recent rallies.

The rules can be confusing. In Dallas Tuesday evening, Clinton supporter Irene Alexander talked to Obama headquarters after her precinct voted 95% for Sen. Obama. "I'm trying to determine if Clinton gets any delegates out of this precinct," she said as other volunteers consulted the party rulebook. "I'm a schoolteacher. I don't know how I got up here, involved in all of this." Other Clinton supporters complained of boos and laughter when they identified themselves at caucuses in precincts where Sen. Obama is popular, or said the system discouraged elderly voters by requiring them to stand in long lines to state their preferences.

Sen. Clinton is likely to use those claims with Democratic superdelegates, whose shift to Sen. Obama before the Texas and Ohio votes had been seen as dooming her hopes of winning the nomination....By arguing that she has won in the big primary states -- California, Ohio, Texas and her homestate of New York among them -- Sen. Clinton could claim that she is better able to beat Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, than could Sen. Obama. In her victory speech in Ohio Tuesday night, Sen. Clinton pointedly reminded Democrats that the party needs an Ohio win in November, a key swing state, if it hopes to take the White House.

Party leaders have long defended the caucus system by saying it relies on the candidates' organizational skills and grass-roots support, both of which become vital in the November elections. But the national party often has little control over the states' nominating processes and little interest in getting involved in changing them....

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB1204770083...