Breaking: Iowa picks Jan 3rd

[Perky]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6550.html

The Iowa Democratic Party Central Committee will meet Sunday night to make it official: The Iowa Democratic caucuses will be held Jan. 3, the same day as the Republican caucuses, said Carrie Giddens, spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party.

The date is a Thursday, instead of the traditional Monday, and also is the earliest in history, another sign of how desperately the early states are fighting to hang onto their first-in-the-nation status.

New Hampshire could still go Jan. 8, which would mean winning candidates in Iowa would have very little time to capitalize on their victories and losers would have very little time to recover from their losses.
If New Hampshire pushes its contest into December, Iowa for the first time would trail New Hampshire instead of precede it.

The early date creates other problems: candidates face the choice of campaigning during the December holiday season or leaving the voters in peace.

And Iowa college students, away for the holidays, may play a lesser role in campaign activities.

[MADem]

1. Everyone will have sobered up by then. NT

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Well, not everyone:

:evilgrin:

[amandabeech]

14. But not everyone will have the tree down.

It's just not going to feel like caucus season with the needles still shedding in living room. Argh! Trees are wonderful, and putting them up is a lot more fun than taking them down.

Everyone will be exhausted. Maybe fewer will decide to show up if there's a lot of snow or ice.

My apologies to those Iowans who do not put up a tree. You'll probably feel more motivated to get out there.

[MADem]

16. Many keep it up until Tres Reyes (Three Kings) which is 6 Jan. NT

[amandabeech]

17. What is Tres Reyes?

You're writing to a lapsed, never-confirmed Methodist. Methodists didn't do "Three Kings" in my day.

[MADem]

19. Tres Reyes is Three King's Day. You know the 12 days of Christmas?

The 12th day is 6 January.

On that day, (actually the night between the fifth and sixt) those Three Kings come to the house, fill your shoes with candy, and leave you a SHITLOAD of toys and treats (that mami and papi bought in the after-Christmas sale!!!).

See, Christmas is the RELIGIOUS holiday, where the birth of the Savior is celebrated. That is the Midnight Mass, the celebratory dinner, the time with the family.

Tres Reyes, OTOH, is the KID's holiday. It's a great money-saver, too!! Of course, as the country becomes more hispanic, those bargains may become fewer and further between, if the country shifts to a Three King's gift schedule!

[youthere]

18. Hey! Speak for yourself!

LOL!

[Colobo]

3. Which candidate benefits the most from this move?

[Perky]

4. I think it it's Obama

Because a lot of college age voters are predisposed to his yout if nothing else.

This migh hurt a bit for out of staters home for the holidays. but if the in-state kids are still at home...this might be a bit of a boomlet.

[MADem]

5. If that's the case, they might still be drunk or hung over from New Year's

Some of those college kids keep drinking till the keg is gone...

[geek tragedy]

7. Just bring coffee and Gatorade to the caucus site.

If they can stand up, that's all that counts.

[Colobo]

8. I'm hoping Obama has some sort of "caucus party" ready

and lots of buses read to take high schoolers and college students to the caucuses. We need them all there!

[itsrobert]

6. This alienates the Male Voter; This works for Hillary

Jan 3 is still Football Bowl season, many males will stay home to watch football. Victory for Hillary and her female supporters.

Orange Bowl
January 3, 2008
BCS vs. BCS
(ACC if available)

[Hardrada]

9. Iowa isn't in the Orange Bowl this year.

Alas (nor any other I fear).

[TwilightZone]

11. Is voting only available for three hours that day?

This is one of the sillier assertions I've seen lately. I really hope that you're joking.

[Perky]

12. That is the way the caucus system works

everybody in those small town meets up and precinct captains twist arms and coddle and convince those unaligned to vote for their guy or gal.

On caucus night, Iowans gather by party preference to elect delegates to the 99 county conventions. Presidential preference on the Republican side is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. In precincts that elect only 1 delegate they choose the delegate by majority vote and it must be a paper ballot. Democratic candidates must receive at least 15 percent of the votes in that precinct to move on to the county convention. If a candidate receives less than 15 percent of the votes, supporters of non-viable candidates have the option to join a viable candidate group, join another non-viable candidate group to become viable, join other groups to form an uncommitted group or chose to go nowhere and not be counted. Non-viable groups have up to 30 minutes to realign, if they fail to do so in that time, they can ask the for more time, which is voted on by the caucus as a whole. If the caucus refuses, re-alignment is done and delegates are awarded. A "third party" may hold a convention to nominate one candidate for president and one for vice president as well. The results of this caucus activity on both the Democratic and Republican sides are not binding on the elected delegates, but the delegates usually feel obligated to follow the wishes expressed by the caucus-goers. Thus the initial caucus results provide a good barometer of the composition of Iowa's national delegation.

Where are the caucuses located?

Iowans gather by party preference in designated schools, public buildings or in private homes. Efforts are being made to move caucus locations into public buildings. The caucus location is determined by the County Chairs of each political party for all 1,784 precincts. The exact location is determined by the expected turn-out of each precinct and by availability.

[itsrobert]

13. About 3 hours

People gather, usually after working hours. Most likely the same time the Orange Bowl is on. It's not like a regular election when voting is from 6 am to 9 pm.

[amandabeech]

15. Note to candidates and election officials.

Have a large screen TV, a bunch of small ones and lots of comfy chairs to enhance turnout.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. Only 70 days to go!

[calteacherguy]

20. The college kids will still be on Winter break?

[goodgd_yall]

21. This will be a first

All the holiday programming and shopping will be competing with political programming and candidate's ads. I think it's almost more than I'll be able to bear.