January 24, 2021

"Iowa's decades-long lock on the nominating process has been under threat since last year's disastrous caucus..."

"... when results were delayed for days due in part to a faulty smartphone app that was supposed to make things easier for precinct captains when they reported results. Ultimately, The Associated Press never declared a winner in the contest because of problems with the vote count, which was administered by the Iowa Democratic Party. Iowa's voters are also older, more rural and more white than many other states so it's seen as increasingly out of step with the Democratic mainstream, which increasingly relies on voters of color and young people for its support. President Biden's newly-installed pick to lead the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison of South Carolina, will get a chance to shake up the calendar by appointing members to the party's rules and bylaws committee. Unlike past presidents, Biden didn't win in Iowa (he came in fourth, after former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) and owes no political debt to the complex caucus process."


1. "The Associated Press never declared a winner in the contest..." — why is it up to the Associated Press?

2. "Iowa's voters are also older, more rural and more white than many other states" — isn't that why Iowa is used as the beginning of the contest? It's not just that Iowa became "increasingly out of step" — the idea all along was to be out of step in precisely that way. But maybe they feel more awkward about it in these days of saying "systemic racism."

3. Biden came in fourth in Iowa. Buttigieg and Sanders were first/second. Interesting how Biden got processed up to the nomination. Too complicated to remember, isn't it? And now Biden is in a position to rejigger the game, so that what didn't work for him won't be the way it's done, going forward. And so the 77-year-old man who by some odd sequence of events ended up President will be able to do something NPR sees as bringing the party up to date. The approach that allowed Pete Buttigieg to vault to the front will, apparently, be characterized as prejudiced and old.

63 comments:

rastajenk said...

Next president Kamala came in last in Iowa, I think, and has even less to owe to that process.

Leland said...

This seems like a problem manufactured by Democrats.

MayBee said...

The ENTIRE primary for the Dems last year was full of baffling delays and misfires. Covid coming in and putting a stop to campaigns as normal saved the day for Biden. It will never sit well with me that the election season that started with the Iowa misfire ended with mail-in voting and a fake water main break.

David Begley said...

There were good reasons why. Biden came in fourth in Iowa with one of them being he didn’t campaign. I saw him once and he didn’t know if it was AM or PM. He wasn’t all there even then. If you saw him in person, you would see that.

Why is NPR writing about the Dems. The 2024 action will be on the GOP side.

Kai Akker said...

NPR: "Democrats Weigh"

The briefest of all operations.

Iman said...

Why is NPR writing about the Dems. The 2024 action will be on the GOP side.

They follow the “write about what you understand, what you know” school of thought. And
Margaret Mead is no longer with us.

Breezy said...

Doesn’t matter. Save the money and effort. Just need the party elite to indicate who the nominee is. After Trump, GOP won’t take a chance.

MayBee said...

And now the news is out that Bezos is fighting mail-in voting for an Amazon facility union vote. Amazon doesn't believe mail in voting will be the most fair.

Kevin said...

Let Black people vote first.

Tell white people they’re racist if they don’t vote for the Black-preferred candidate.

Continue messaging in the general election.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Interesting how Biden got processed up to the nomination

That is because Sanders was too honest about his agenda. Turn the US into a Communist country like Russia. Sanders is an in your face Communist.

Buttigieg and the others are soft Communists, Socialists, "Progressives" and idiots. The aim is the same though, destroy the US Constitution and institute a Communist/Socialist regime. They were just a little less out there. The rank and file, normal, not progressive Democrats would be afraid of a Commie President.

Plus Buttigieg had the disadvantage of being an OPENLY gay guy running for President. (unlike Obama and Michael). The majority of Blacks and Hispanics would NEVER vote for a gay guy. Too bad if some people don't like this concept...it is reality. Face it.

The Dems needed the dumbo voters to fall in line...So, they bait and switch and put up the MEAT PUPPET Biden, to fool the Dimocrats into thinking that they would be voting for a regular guy. Someone 'normal". And they spent the last 4 years demonizing, telling lies aobut Trump, so that people will be afraid of the Mean Horrible Orange Man.

However....the Dimocrats and many othere are Fooled Again!!! meet the new boss...same as the old boss!!!! They voted for a cabal of unaccountable faceless backroom manipulators. Biden is just a puppet and will be discarded soon. Harris is not in power either. Fooled again!!!

You can't always get what you want....but if you fall for the tricks, you ARE going to get something else and get it good an hard.

Kevin said...

You know what Black people need? More symbolic pandering.

Seriously, walk down any urban street and the sound of Black people asking when the promised symbolic pandering is going to arrive is deafening.

If you don’t hear it, it’s being drowned out by systemic racism.

gilbar said...

The Associated Press never declared a winner in the contest. — why is it up to the Associated Press?

Well, our Living Constitution CLEARLY states: Presidents shall be WHOMEVER the media want

Kevin said...

Next president Kamala came in last in Iowa, I think, and has even less to owe to that process.

Harris was forced out of the race two months before Iowa, citing lack of funds.

That’s how much Democrats wanted her to be President.

Mr. Forward said...

How many votes must a man steal now
Before you call it a win?
How many times must he pull the dog’s tail
Before he falls down again?
Yes, and how many tweets until Kamala tries
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowing up the win
The answer is blowing up the win

iowan2 said...

Iowa caucuses/Cauci? were a disaster because they created an Ipad/phone app, tested it out. Gave an online primer, then handed it to hundreds of SENIOR Dem officials, many of whom, had very little exposure to tech in general, and Ipads less so.
The Dems also created a new way to tally votes, some sort of weighting in the first, second, third , etc, rounds of voting. It had never been done before so the goal procedure was all new, thus confusing. The next morning the DNC swooped in and took over the entirety of the counting and releasing results. Done in such a way as to appear the DNC was picking and Choosing who's fortune to advance.

tim maguire said...

owes no political debt to the complex caucus process."

No, he owes it to the party leadership. Just like Hillary.

gilbar said...

y'all Do know how the republicans in iowa handle it, don't you?
There's the caucus, to handle boring details; but, before that starts there is The Straw Poll
Which works just like a primary (except that it ISN'T a primary, New Hampshire gets 1st primary)
The Straw poll numbers are reported IN MINUTES, and the majority of iowa republicans go home
WHY don't the iowa democrats do that? well, speaking as a native iowan, and former iowa democrat.... Because iowa democrats are Too F*cking STUPID

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"Won't Get Fooled Again"

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Oh I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by the bye
And a parting on the left
Is now a parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss


1971....and we still haven't learned a DAMNED THING.

tim maguire said...

Kevin said...Harris was forced out of the race two months before Iowa, citing lack of funds.

That’s how much Democrats wanted her to be President.


The professor noted early in the primary that Harris was the choice of the party leadership. Events as they unfolded vindicate her judgment. Harris was roundly rejected by primary voters, so the party engineered a situation where she will soon be president without ever facing the voters.

The Democratic Party should be forced to change its name by truth in advertising laws.

Biff said...

Ann Althouse wrote: "Biden came in fourth in Iowa."

...and Kamala Harris ended her campaign before Iowa due to weak polling numbers and weak fundraising. Funny how things have turned out.

iowan2 said...

Politicians hate Iowa. It is old school retail politics. Actually answering questions from a 5th grade teacher with 30 years of experience pointing out the stupid thinking coming from DC
Not the union rep for the State, that knows how to pull punches.

Iowans also "know' the issues. Do not use talking points the don't understand. Don't jockey for position to be a sound bite star. Call out lies. The have to talk to real people. Even Harry Stein, and Dennis Albaugh, for all their money, are indistinguishable from an Iowa pig farmer.

(I threw in 'pig farmer' because inga thinks its a slur. Not knowing I would put my life in the hands of 50 random pig farmers, than 50 hand picked nurses. Pig farmers are way smarter)

hawkeyedjb said...

I'm from Iowa. When I grew up there, it had an overwhelmingly white population. Now cities vie with each other to import black people from Illinois, and brown people arrive as part of the Great Migration. My hometown has become a multicultural paradise. Soon the Democratic party elites will realize this, and back off from their criticisms of Iowa.

iowan2 said...

Yes Harris dropping out before a primary vote was cast, is worthy a documentary, on how not to run for President. Somehow will be president within months

gilbar said...

iowan2 ? did you get all your soybeans in? how about your corn?
over here in northeast iowa it looks like they got it all in
hope your bins are full!

wendybar said...

Biden is a good little puppet for the puppet masters of the Obama administration and their corrupt intel agencies.

pious agnostic said...

iowan2 said...
...Done in such a way as to appear the DNC was picking and Choosing who's fortune to advance.

1/24/21, 7:18 AM


Funny how it always seems like that, doesn't it? The way, for example, only poor Sanders was allowed to run against Hillary! so that she would have someone to run to the right of.

DNC always has their thumb (and their knee) on the scales.

Matt Sablan said...

"The way, for example, only poor Sanders was allowed to run against Hillary! so that she would have someone to run to the right of."

-- Sanders is the Washington Generals of the DNC's nomination process. Mainly there to make the designated winners look good.

boatbuilder said...

Nobody got to "win" Iowa because Joe Biden wasn't the winner. And we can't have that.

And the connection between how the Dems screwed up the Iowa Caucus and how the Dem-controlled key cities screwed up (not really--wink, wink) the counting on Election Night is conspicuously not made.

Why would anybody trust either the Democrat Party or the media?


Josephbleau said...

I think that if the Democrats remove Iowa’s status they may have a hard time winning Iowa for a while. I think Iowa would be a bit insulted. But 6 flyover votes probably doesn’t impress the dnc.

David Begley said...

For my own reasons, I love the Iowa caucuses. It really is something to see and question the candidates in person. I, of course, had the opportunity to amplify my views with my posts on Power Line. The first time I saw Trump in Sioux City in 2015 was an eye opener. Bernie talked too long. Beto was a total flake. Liz was angry. Amy was a phony. Booker was weird and fake. Biden was out of it.

Smartest guys were Marco and Bobby Jindahl. Marco is so likable. Chris Christie was the most surprising.

MadTownGuy said...

Here's the link to the Amazon mail-in voting article.

"The e-commerce giant appealed a decision to hold mail-in balloting, arguing in part that the National Labor Relations Board pandemic election guidance never defined what an “outbreak” actually is."

MadTownGuy said...

Oops...Blogger ate my link. Here goes again:

Amazon presses for in-person voting for unionization election in the midst of a pandemic

narciso said...

it doesn't matter any more does it,


https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/01/back_to_the_obamas_failed_policies_and_blinkered_personnel_.html

Temujin said...

Democrats will spend the next two years, before they are made a minority party, doctoring up every bit of the election process to try to ensure that one party- theirs- is always in power, always get elected. Just like in California. Or Russia. Or China. Or Venezuela. Take your pick.

CWJ said...

"The professor noted early in the primary that Harris was the choice of the party leadership."

Yep, I recall Althouse had multiple posts on the media and establishment trying to get her campaign off the ground. I also remember Biden being perhaps last to announce his candidacy. I wonder the PTB only gave him the go ahead to run after seeing that Harris was getting no traction.

Breezy said...

And then Harris went after him with the “that little girl was me” bit. That’s now the line I “hear” btw whenever I see those pics of Joe w Sen Coons’s daughter....”that little girl was me”. Funny how things juxtapose in our heads sometimes.

Ralph L said...

And now Biden is in a position to rejigger the game, so that what didn't work for him won't be the way it's done

It did work for him. He became the Great "Centrist" Hope after losing several votes.

Mr Wibble said...

The left and the right both despise conservatives, but for a long time have needed their support, because conservatives make up the largest group in this country. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the libertarian wing of the right started to align with the progressive wing of the left on social issues and an accommodation on certain economic issues. Gay marriage, drug use, open borders and shipping icky manufacturing and resource production jobs overseas. Cutting Iowa's first position is simply the next step.

It's also going to be a disaster, because it is this attitude which created Trump, and will either fuel his revival, or the rise of someone a lot less nice towards them.

Charlie said...

There was no problem with an "app". The party realized Sanders was going to win and, from then on, the fix was in.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Biden came in fourth in Iowa. Buttigieg and Sanders were first/second. Interesting how Biden got processed up to the nomination. Too complicated to remember, isn't it?

biden - technically - did not win the nomination.

After covdi hit, whole primaries were cancelled.

mezzrow said...

Hypocrisy is like Bondo: any hole in it can always be patched by more of it.

Not my line, but it fits.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Oh so NOW we are to be concerned with process and elections? Can we talk about the presidential clusterfuck yet Althouse?

320Busdriver said...

Are you saying the election wasn't totally legit? Because you can't say that anymore dontchaknow!

Lurker21 said...

"Democrats Weigh Whether Iowa Should Stay 1st In Line For 2024 Election"

Nice use of "should." Presumably, they are debating whether to remove Iowa from the front of the line, but "should" sounds to me a bit like they are going to appeal to Iowa's conscience and expect the state to move back its primary date. There's a sort of passive feeling to the sentence. Or maybe I am overreading.



I was going to say, "Wait. Wasn't John Edwards running against Clinton and Sanders for a while?" But no. He was running against Clinton and Obama for a while in 2008 and was totally disgraced by 2016. Thinking about him now, I remember who it was that Eric Swalwell reminds me of.

Lurker21 said...

Supposedly the federal government was building subsidized housing for Chicago across the Mississippi in Dubuque. Probably for political reasons.

I'm not saying that is literally true. Maybe somebody else knows more about the story.

iowan2 said...

iowan2 ? did you get all your soybeans in? how about your corn?
over here in northeast iowa it looks like they got it all in
hope your bins are full!


Yes the bins are all full. Corn and soy all harvested. The bins are full because a lot of storage, both on farm, and commercial were destroyed in the dercho. Benton county, (between Tama and CR.) lost 80% of all storage, which worked out, because 80% of the corn was a total loss. One gower I worked with lost 5 of 6 hog finishing units, but only 80 hogs. Really depressing because he said the hog units were his retirement plan, He is 66 and rebuilding all of them. Such is the easy life of farming.

Francisco D said...

Lurker21 said...Supposedly the federal government was building subsidized housing for Chicago across the Mississippi in Dubuque. Probably for political reasons.

Dubuque is a Democrat stronghold with unions and small colleges.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Look up AFFP or read Powerline blog to understands the Obama era subsidized housing scam.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing plan. That was it I think.

sterlingblue said...

I grew up in Iowa. Iowans are sensible, decent people. And they wanted no part of Joe Biden.

narciso said...

he's trying his hand at standup now


https://news.grabien.com/story-gov-kemp-i-support-voter-id-checks-future-elections

Yancey Ward said...

The caucus was deliberately fucked up to stop Sanders from declaring victory. Everyone knows this, I think, but the truth can't be spoken apparently.

Lurker21 said...

About irony and sarcasm and satire ...

Plus Buttigieg had the disadvantage of being an OPENLY gay guy running for President. (unlike Obama and Michael)

Does anybody seriously believe that about the Obamas?

mikee said...

I recall no news about the apparently trouble-free Republican caucuses in Iowa for the 2020 election primary. Why would one party have a functional caucus in Iowa, and the other party a complete clusterf**k? I don't think it is the caucus itself, rather than those running it.
Do you?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

And now Biden is in a position to rejigger the game, so that what didn't work for him won't be the way it's done, going forward

No, actually, he isn't.

The GOP is the out Party. Their Primary / Caucus lineup matters.

The Democrat's doesn't matter. Unless Joe lives to 2024, doesn't retire or get Amendment 25'd, Harris is running for the nomination, and faces a serious challenger.

And the chance of all that happening is about equal to my chance of winning the lottery.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Does anybody seriously believe that about the Obamas?

I do think Barack very well may be gay and this picture has me wondering about his wife:

https://external-preview.redd.it/cTw4_g9XjMBkHVeTc5-kGu7cvNF3wAQUPjq0MdbZY-s.jpg?s=4c5d739ddccdf1523fb30ae0540690dc8897ed99

Rabel said...

78

Saint Croix said...

"Iowa's voters are also older, more rural and more white than many other states" — isn't that why Iowa is used as the beginning of the contest? It's not just that Iowa became "increasingly out of step" — the idea all along was to be out of step in precisely that way. But maybe they feel more awkward about it in these days of saying "systemic racism."

Amazing to suggest that a state is racist solely because of the color of the people who live there. China is racist. Africa is racist. Let's follow this stupidity all the way. Liberals are insane on the subject of race. It's "guilty into you prove you're innocent" and you're never allowed to prove it.

Iowa voted for Obama in 2008. It was the first public validation of his candidacy. And now we are told that Iowa is filled with racists because they didn't vote for some old white guy.

In the future the Democrats are going to move people around like Stalin. They're going to bus Harlem to Iowa. We've got to integrate Iowa! We're so embarrassed by the skin color of Iowa!

Lurker21 said...

I do think Barack very well may be gay and this picture has me wondering about his wife:

Do you seriously think that is what you think it is?

That is a "feminine protection product".

Anonymous said...

Louis Farrakhan should nominate future Democrat candidates. I mean...it's not like we'll have real elections anymore. I can only hope that Zimbabwe will send some representatives to 'educate' us on democracy, because we've kinda lost the thread.

Michael K said...

Iowa voted for Obama in 2008. It was the first public validation of his candidacy. And now we are told that Iowa is filled with racists because they didn't vote for some old white guy.

It's always been my impression that Democrat voters in Iowa are far left, mostly government employees, etc.

By the same token, I have believed that Republican voters in Iowa tend to be religious conservatives and evangelicals.

An I wrong or is that changing ?

ken in tx said...

I think Biden was originally a sacrifice candidate. Before the pandemic shutdown tanked the economy. Trump was a shoo-in for a 2nd term. He had all the usual benefits of the incumbent. The Democrats let Biden float to the top just to have someone on the ballot. They knew his shortcomings, but he wasn’t expected to win. Now they are faced with the burden of governing with an incompetent President.

Lurker21 said...

I don't know if they really thought it through that much. They were terrified that Bernie Sanders would be the nominee and the country would reject Sanders and the Democrats in a big way, so keeping Bernie from winning was the top priority. They succeeded in getting Bernie out and I think they just crossed their fingers and hoped for the best. Biden's mental condition wasn't as obvious a year ago as it is now. Remember, Biden wasn't really doing much campaigning and was counting on Clyburn and South Carolina to keep him in the race.