IOWA CAUCUS REPORT THREAD ~ HERE IT COMES

[Delta7757]

Both CNN and Fox keeps reporting that the Dems had more then double the Republicans show up.

[GREGAGREATAMERICAN]

Who is Mike Gravel??

Hes the Guy in a tie for last place.

http://www.gravel2008.us/

[Bren4824]

Who is Mike Gravel??

Hes the Guy in a tie for last place.

http://www.gravel2008.us/

This is the first that I even heard of him!!

[Jean]

Primary Results: IOWA

This page represents results, including delegate count, reported immediately after each state's contest.

Estimated Delegates: 45
Democratic Primary Results
Thursday, January 3
Real-time Race Results: Updated January 4, 2008 - 1:00 AM (all times Eastern Standard)
Precincts Reporting 100%
Candidate Votes Vote % Delegates Projected Winner
Obama 940 38% 16 Winner
Edwards 744 30% 14
Clinton 737 29% 15
Richardson 53 2% 0
Biden 23 1% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0
.
Estimated Delegates: 40
Republican Primary Results
Thursday, January 3
Real-time Race Results: Updated January 4, 2008 - 12:35 AM (all times Eastern Standard)
Precincts Reporting 92%
Candidate Votes Vote % Delegates Projected Winner
Huckabee 38,656 34% 30 Winner
Romney 28,311 25% 7
Thompson 15,044 13% 0
McCain 14,759 13% 0
Paul 11,216 10% 0
Giuliani 3,860 4% 0
Hunter 499 1% 0

http://abcnews.go.com/politics/elections/state?state=IA

[Populist]

I agree with the comments about Romney being our best choice. Who else do we have -- that can win? The MSM has been hammering Romney for months, while pushing the anti-conservative Republican Huckabee and now McCain who both have so much baggage that is not being scrutinized. It's so obvious it's sickening. And don't count out Giuliani yet.

[Populist]

I think Gravel went on Laura Ingraham awhile ago and thought she was Dr. Laura.

[Bren4824]

I am going to call Romney's office tomorrow and suggest some strategies!!

Not that they will take my advice, but it is worth a try!!

[GeorgiaPeach]

Rockfish, what is up with the HUGE differences between Democrat and Republican numbers. Hundreds versus thousands - why?

Matthew 5

[GREGAGREATAMERICAN]

Im not rock fish but i can shed some light Mrs. Peach

The Republican caucus voting system in Iowa is relatively straightforward: You come in, you vote, typically through secret ballot, and the percentages of the group supporting each candidate decides what delegates will go on to the county convention.



The Democrats have a more complex system -- in fact, it's one of the most complex pieces of the entire presidential election. In a typical caucus, registered democrats gather at the precinct meeting places (there are close to 2,000 precincts statewide), supporters for each candidate have a chance to make their case, and then the participants gather into groups supporting particular candidates (undecided voters also cluster into a group). In order for a particular group to be viable, they must have a certain percentage of the all the caucus participants. If they don't have enough people, the group disbands, and its members go to another group. The percentage cut-off is determined by the number of delegates assigned to the precinct. It breaks down like this:

If the precinct has only one delegate, the group with the most people wins the delegate vote, and that's it.
If the precinct has only two delegates, each group needs 25 percent to be viable.
If the precinct has only three delegates, each group needs one-sixth of the caucus participants.
If the precinct has four or more delegates, each group needs at least 15 percent of the caucus participants.
Once the groups are settled, the next order of business is to figure out how many of that precinct's delegates each group (and by extension, each candidate) should win. Here's the formula:


(Number of people in the group * number of delegates)/ number of caucus participantsÂ* For example, say a precinct has four delegates, 200 caucus participants, and 100 people support John Doe. To figure out how many delegates you assign to John Doe, you would multiply 100 by four, to get 400. You divide 400 by 200 and get 2. So John Doe gets two of the four delegates.
The media reports the "winner," based on the percentage of delegates going to each candidate. This isn't exactly accurate, since it's actually the state convention that decides what delegates go to the national convention, but more often than not, there's a clear statewide winner after the caucuses.

The convoluted caucus system dates back to 1796, when American political parties emerged, and it hasn't changed a whole lot since then. Most states eventually replaced this system, because as political parties became more centralized and sophisticated in the early twentieth century, party leaders or "bosses" were perceived as exerting too much control over choosing a nominee. To give individual voters more influence over the nomination process, party leaders created the presidential primary system. Florida held the first primary in 1901 marking the beginning of the presidential primary we know today.

Dramatic caucus reforms and rules that the Democratic Party instituted at the state level in the 1970s changed the system significantly. Designed to improve and open up caucuses to all party members, the requirements actually made caucuses more difficult to manage and inadvertently led to the rise of primaries. To help states coordinate the election days of both parties, the Republicans also changed their system.

[GREGAGREATAMERICAN]

Rockfish, what is up with the HUGE differences between Democrat and Republican numbers. Hundreds versus thousands - why?

Matthew 5

234,000 Democrats voted VS. 112,349 Republican voters almost all counts in
they just doubled us .