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Post by Dex on Jan 31, 2016 19:05:22 GMT -5
Ahead of caucuses, Iowans brace for blizzard The latest weather reports from Iowa indicate that candidates will face a fresh challenge in amassing critical support at caucus events across the state: snow, and potentially lots of it. Much of Iowa is under a blizzard watch starting Monday night through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the caucus starts, snow will likely be falling in some western parts of Iowa, including Council Bluffs. The Iowa caucuses for both parties require physical attendance at the evening community meetings. However, the Weather Channel conducted a poll indicating that bad weather is unlikely to slow dedicated caucus-goers down. Of Iowa Democrats, 70 percent said it’s never too cold to attend the caucus, and 63 percent of Iowa Republicans said the same. Snow is expected to pick up in the late hours of Monday into Tuesday. Much of Iowa will face a blizzard Tuesday, which could cause trouble for anyone trying to leave the state following the caucuses. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ahead-caucuses-iowans-brace-blizzard
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Post by beth on Jan 31, 2016 21:34:48 GMT -5
Ahead of caucuses, Iowans brace for blizzard The latest weather reports from Iowa indicate that candidates will face a fresh challenge in amassing critical support at caucus events across the state: snow, and potentially lots of it. Much of Iowa is under a blizzard watch starting Monday night through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the caucus starts, snow will likely be falling in some western parts of Iowa, including Council Bluffs. The Iowa caucuses for both parties require physical attendance at the evening community meetings. However, the Weather Channel conducted a poll indicating that bad weather is unlikely to slow dedicated caucus-goers down. Of Iowa Democrats, 70 percent said it’s never too cold to attend the caucus, and 63 percent of Iowa Republicans said the same. Snow is expected to pick up in the late hours of Monday into Tuesday. Much of Iowa will face a blizzard Tuesday, which could cause trouble for anyone trying to leave the state following the caucuses. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ahead-caucuses-iowans-brace-blizzard Geez ... odd hours and now a blizzard. Not ready to put my trust in the outcome tomorrow night! But, when you think about it ... Iowa has picked Mike Huckabee, Ricky Santorum and (I think) John Edwards, in the past. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the importance of the Caucus choices. |
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Post by Dex on Feb 1, 2016 13:18:27 GMT -5
I doubt if they know what kind of a difference low turnout would make. At a guess, I'd say almost all of the committed people will show up. The Republican and the Democrat candidates all have a lot at stake. It won't tell us who wins the nominations but it will get rid of some of them that don't get enough support to build on.
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Post by Dex on Feb 1, 2016 17:16:19 GMT -5
Men an tol, when will the EST people (me for example) be able to hear the results of the Iowa Caucuses?
Are you going to go?
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Post by men an tol on Feb 1, 2016 18:08:25 GMT -5
Men an tol, when will the EST people (me for example) be able to hear the results of the Iowa Caucuses? Are you going to go? Dex Yes, I'll be there since I am a Precinct Secretary. In fact, I'll be leaving in about 10 minutes. The news media are predicting results beginning to come in about 10:00 P.M. East Coast Time. While it is being collected across the State, it all has to be audited locally before sending it in and then it goes to a central site that is different for the two major parties. |
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Post by men an tol on Feb 1, 2016 18:10:02 GMT -5
Ahead of caucuses, Iowans brace for blizzard The latest weather reports from Iowa indicate that candidates will face a fresh challenge in amassing critical support at caucus events across the state: snow, and potentially lots of it. Much of Iowa is under a blizzard watch starting Monday night through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the caucus starts, snow will likely be falling in some western parts of Iowa, including Council Bluffs. The Iowa caucuses for both parties require physical attendance at the evening community meetings. However, the Weather Channel conducted a poll indicating that bad weather is unlikely to slow dedicated caucus-goers down. Of Iowa Democrats, 70 percent said it’s never too cold to attend the caucus, and 63 percent of Iowa Republicans said the same. Snow is expected to pick up in the late hours of Monday into Tuesday. Much of Iowa will face a blizzard Tuesday, which could cause trouble for anyone trying to leave the state following the caucuses. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ahead-caucuses-iowans-brace-blizzard It is most likely that nearly all caucuses sites will be done prior to the snow getting here. Not like some years ago when we needed snow plows to get into some sites. |
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Post by men an tol on Feb 1, 2016 18:13:43 GMT -5
Ahead of caucuses, Iowans brace for blizzard The latest weather reports from Iowa indicate that candidates will face a fresh challenge in amassing critical support at caucus events across the state: snow, and potentially lots of it. Much of Iowa is under a blizzard watch starting Monday night through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the caucus starts, snow will likely be falling in some western parts of Iowa, including Council Bluffs. The Iowa caucuses for both parties require physical attendance at the evening community meetings. However, the Weather Channel conducted a poll indicating that bad weather is unlikely to slow dedicated caucus-goers down. Of Iowa Democrats, 70 percent said it’s never too cold to attend the caucus, and 63 percent of Iowa Republicans said the same. Snow is expected to pick up in the late hours of Monday into Tuesday. Much of Iowa will face a blizzard Tuesday, which could cause trouble for anyone trying to leave the state following the caucuses. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ahead-caucuses-iowans-brace-blizzard Geez ... odd hours and now a blizzard. Not ready to put my trust in the outcome tomorrow night! But, when you think about it ... Iowa has picked Mike Huckabee, Ricky Santorum and (I think) John Edwards, in the past. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the importance of the Caucus choices. You really have to keep in mind what the caucuses are about. Yes, candidates will receive votes and for some it may be the end, but the real reason for the caucuses is to conduct Party business including delegate selection for the various (county, region, and State) conventions where candidates will be selected and party platforms will be developed. |
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Post by beth on Feb 1, 2016 22:18:22 GMT -5
Geez ... odd hours and now a blizzard. Not ready to put my trust in the outcome tomorrow night! But, when you think about it ... Iowa has picked Mike Huckabee, Ricky Santorum and (I think) John Edwards, in the past. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the importance of the Caucus choices. You really have to keep in mind what the caucuses are about. Yes, candidates will receive votes and for some it may be the end, but the real reason for the caucuses is to conduct Party business including delegate selection for the various (county, region, and State) conventions where candidates will be selected and party platforms will be developed. Cruz is doing well. Guess the Evangelicals are out in force. Hillary's ahead but Bernie is doing better than expected and giving her a run for it.  O'Malley and Santorum are dragging in with 1% each and I think they are calling it a day. Jeb says he's insulted. hmm |
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Post by beth on Feb 2, 2016 21:09:54 GMT -5
Ahead of caucuses, Iowans brace for blizzard The latest weather reports from Iowa indicate that candidates will face a fresh challenge in amassing critical support at caucus events across the state: snow, and potentially lots of it. Much of Iowa is under a blizzard watch starting Monday night through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the caucus starts, snow will likely be falling in some western parts of Iowa, including Council Bluffs. The Iowa caucuses for both parties require physical attendance at the evening community meetings. However, the Weather Channel conducted a poll indicating that bad weather is unlikely to slow dedicated caucus-goers down. Of Iowa Democrats, 70 percent said it’s never too cold to attend the caucus, and 63 percent of Iowa Republicans said the same. Snow is expected to pick up in the late hours of Monday into Tuesday. Much of Iowa will face a blizzard Tuesday, which could cause trouble for anyone trying to leave the state following the caucuses. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ahead-caucuses-iowans-brace-blizzard It is most likely that nearly all caucuses sites will be done prior to the snow getting here. Not like some years ago when we needed snow plows to get into some sites. So Men an tol, did your Caucus go well? Did you have to go through the snow to get home or did it hold off? I didn't see anything about the forecast "blizzard" today. was media exaggerating? |
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Post by men an tol on Feb 2, 2016 22:18:04 GMT -5
Beth asked, “ . . . So Men an tol, did your Caucus go well? Did you have to go through the snow to get home or did it hold off? . . . . I didn't see anything about the forecast "blizzard" today. was media exaggerating? . . . “
The Weather. The predicted snow didn’t begin in my county until 9:00 AM the next day, so there ws no impact from weather.
To put this in perspective, many of these precincts represent typically small turn outs. For example, I was precinct secretary for Ward 4 Precinct 3 and, Ward 4 Precinct 4. These two precincts typically have the lowest voter turnout in the in the city. For this caucus it was anticipated that turn-out would be 8 to 10 voters in each of these two precincts.
The doors would open at 6:00 P.M. and begin at 7:00 P.M. I arrived at 5:30 P.M. because there is a lot of paper work and setup to assure that all attending was registered and from the correct precinct. About 5:45 P.M. the first attendees arrived, a little early but that was okay. As I got them checked in I turn around and there were 4 more waiting to check in. This continued until about 5 after 7:00 P.M. There were even 3 that showed up just as the ballots were being handed in for counting.
It turned out that rather than the estimated 16 or so attendees, the final vote count after the audit, we had 84 votes. The entire State was that way with the largest Caucus turn out ever, with 184,000 voters.
Just as important was the attitudes. There was concern about the direction of the country but no meanness. During the time when voters could stand and talk about their candidate, these were people not used to standing and talking in front of groups, but they did talk and they were sincere, they clearly cared. While I was the oldest in the room this cover all age groups.
It was a good night.
Today is the final vote on the new school bond issue and at this point it appears that we (the students) are winning. We do not need another 47,000,000 dollars of new bricks and mortar. It appears that this bond issue is being beat.
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Post by beth on Feb 3, 2016 10:34:27 GMT -5
Beth asked, “ . . . So Men an tol, did your Caucus go well? Did you have to go through the snow to get home or did it hold off? . . . . I didn't see anything about the forecast "blizzard" today. was media exaggerating? . . . “ The Weather. The predicted snow didn’t begin in my county until 9:00 AM the next day, so there ws no impact from weather. To put this in perspective, many of these precincts represent typically small turn outs. For example, I was precinct secretary for Ward 4 Precinct 3 and, Ward 4 Precinct 4. These two precincts typically have the lowest voter turnout in the in the city. For this caucus it was anticipated that turn-out would be 8 to 10 voters in each of these two precincts. The doors would open at 6:00 P.M. and begin at 7:00 P.M. I arrived at 5:30 P.M. because there is a lot of paper work and setup to assure that all attending was registered and from the correct precinct. About 5:45 P.M. the first attendees arrived, a little early but that was okay. As I got them checked in I turn around and there were 4 more waiting to check in. This continued until about 5 after 7:00 P.M. There were even 3 that showed up just as the ballots were being handed in for counting. It turned out that rather than the estimated 16 or so attendees, the final vote count after the audit, we had 84 votes. The entire State was that way with the largest Caucus turn out ever, with 184,000 voters. Just as important was the attitudes. There was concern about the direction of the country but no meanness. During the time when voters could stand and talk about their candidate, these were people not used to standing and talking in front of groups, but they did talk and they were sincere, they clearly cared. While I was the oldest in the room this cover all age groups. It was a good night. Today is the final vote on the new school bond issue and at this point it appears that we (the students) are winning. We do not need another 47,000,000 dollars of new bricks and mortar. It appears that this bond issue is being beat. Sounds like a great night! I can tell you really enjoy being involved in these things. Good to know the mood of the voters was so positive. We can but hope a similar outlook exists in all the primaries. Civilized people doing their best for the country. |
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Post by men an tol on Feb 3, 2016 14:30:46 GMT -5
Thank you for the thoughts Beth. I suspect (actually believe) that most people across the country are like that in attitude. Maybe I'm Pollyannaish about people. Don't get me wrong people here (and everywhere) can get sincerely committed to some point of view and in discussions can become overly animated. But in the end nearly all decide what is right and move ahead.
Here in this caucus system those who attend, for the most part, know each other. For example, these two precincts are upwards of 30 square blocks. This is one of the most diverse areas of the community. And here, in these gatherings the people sit down and decide. No big political parties, no big businesses, no much big of anything, just people.
The caucus system may seem to others to be somewhat messy and certainly not efficient as well as being devoid of professional people running the show. In away you could metaphorically that when you go home you have the sweat of your neighbors on you.
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Post by Sysop3 on Feb 3, 2016 15:04:56 GMT -5
Thank you for the thoughts Beth. I suspect (actually believe) that most people across the country are like that in attitude. Maybe I'm Pollyannaish about people. Don't get me wrong people here (and everywhere) can get sincerely committed to some point of view and in discussions can become overly animated. But in the end nearly all decide what is right and move ahead. Here in this caucus system those who attend, for the most part, know each other. For example, these two precincts are upwards of 30 square blocks. This is one of the most diverse areas of the community. And here, in these gatherings the people sit down and decide. No big political parties, no big businesses, no much big of anything, just people. The caucus system may seem to others to be somewhat messy and certainly not efficient as well as being devoid of professional people running the show. In away you could metaphorically that when you go home you have the sweat of your neighbors on you. Don't count too much on a lot of others across the country voting for Cruz. The people I've talked to think he's running the dirtiest campaign since tricky Dick. |
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Post by men an tol on Feb 3, 2016 16:02:50 GMT -5
Thank you for the thoughts Beth. I suspect (actually believe) that most people across the country are like that in attitude. Maybe I'm Pollyannaish about people. Don't get me wrong people here (and everywhere) can get sincerely committed to some point of view and in discussions can become overly animated. But in the end nearly all decide what is right and move ahead. Here in this caucus system those who attend, for the most part, know each other. For example, these two precincts are upwards of 30 square blocks. This is one of the most diverse areas of the community. And here, in these gatherings the people sit down and decide. No big political parties, no big businesses, no much big of anything, just people. The caucus system may seem to others to be somewhat messy and certainly not efficient as well as being devoid of professional people running the show. In away you could metaphorically that when you go home you have the sweat of your neighbors on you. Don't count too much on a lot of others across the country voting for Cruz. The people I've talked to think he's running the dirtiest campaign since tricky Dick. I have no doubt that there are those who feel that way, but that wasn't my point. It was rather that, at least here in Iowa with the caucus system, the people run the caucus from the local level. They are involved in numbers never seen before and are very knowledgeable. Moreover, in this caucus system candidates must get out with the people, hand on hand, look them straight in the eye, ask direct questions, and then it is the people who run the caucus voting. Not a party, not a candidate. If he is running a dirty campaign it would have been easily apparent here in Iowa and it didn't show up here |
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Post by beth on Feb 3, 2016 16:16:08 GMT -5
Don't count too much on a lot of others across the country voting for Cruz. The people I've talked to think he's running the dirtiest campaign since tricky Dick. I have no doubt that there are those who feel that way, but that wasn't my point. It was rather that, at least here in Iowa with the caucus system, the people run the caucus from the local level. They are involved in numbers never seen before and are very knowledgeable. Moreover, in this caucus system candidates must get out with the people, hand on hand, look them straight in the eye, ask direct questions, and then it is the people who run the caucus voting. Not a party, not a candidate. If he is running a dirty campaign it would have been easily apparent here in Iowa and it didn't show up here Just venturing an "IMO", Men an tol, but it's been my experience churches hang together and have lots of trouble seeing others of the same faith in a negative light. The dirty tricks are a matter of record now .. no saying they didn't happen. But, I guess they voted for him in spite of that. Sounds a lot like they (many of the Iowa voters) wanted to side "with their conscience" no matter what was going on behind the scenes. G.W. Bush's campaign was also down and dirty the first time around (2000). |
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Omega
