The WA caucuses represent 1% of the population of that state. NE represent 2% of that state.

[joshcryer]

I find this extremely disturbing. Obama's SC win was more votes than all of the caucus states tonight.

I've always thought caucuses were bad, but when I look at the numbers for tonight I am completely blown away. Alaska, OK, I can see only a few hundred people voting up there. But WA? Less than 1% of the people? That's insane.

[MadBadger]

1. Um, I think Washington's numbers are in terms of delegates.

[joshcryer]

8. So what are the actual numbers for WA, then? Is it better than 2%?

[MadBadger]

12. Not sure where to find that out. I had heard that 32% is what they were expecting.

[joeybee12]

2. Look at the number of people who vote in primaries as compared to

caucuses, and tell me the caucuses should not be abandoned.

[joeybee12]

3. Look at the number of people who vote in primaries as compared to

caucuses, and tell me the caucuses should not be abandoned.

[TwilightGardener]

4. I guess it's only disturbing if your candidate didn't win that measly 2%.

[Prayingforrain48]

5. which numbers?

Yeah, those numbers listed on CNN et al are not the vote totals.

[robbedvoter]

6. Kinda like the Moveon "vote" - no wait, that was 10%

[Renew Deal]

7. Those are delegates, not voters.

[joshcryer]

16. I know NE's are voters.

[Renew Deal]

19. Nebraska is delegates too.

Check the link. It says State Del.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#NE

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Alaska? We had over 8,000 people caucus for Dems

up here last Tuesday. Who knew there were even that many Democrats in the state? :shrug:

[woolldog]

10. josh

give it up. Everyone knew the rules of the primary before they started and agreed to them. Too late now to quibble with the format. everyone knew the format of the presidential campaign going in.

[joshcryer]

11. Give what up? I already expect Hillary to lose. Can I not make an observation about the process?

I'm not "whining." I'm merely pointing out the representational nature of these processes.

[Perky]

13. I do not care.

Look at the margins

[Beregond2]

14. Caucuses

My feelings about it are mixed. The caucuses get people much more directly involved than voting in a primary does. And there is nothing preventing as many people from participating in a caucus as vote in a primary. It could be argued that the caucuses attract the most concerned and best-informed citizens to make this important choice.

But...ultimately I think you are right. Every state should have a primary,and they all should fall within a few weeks of the general election, so we don't have these endless, ruinously expensive campaigns.

[Yael]

15. Um, Washington and Nebraska report delegates, not caucusers

:hi:

[joshcryer]

17. So NE's caucuses are tiered? Are you sure of that?

[New Dawn]

18. Well I thought the caucus was much cooler than a primary

Everyone there was excited.

[StoryTeller]

20. This is Nebraska's first caucus

And it was not well publicized until just the last month or so. I'm pretty politically aware, and I didn't hear about it until December. Also, for Douglas county (most populous county in the state) the caucuses were all held during the morning--competing with kids' activities, athletics, classes, work, and lots of other stuff.

Additionally, this is an extremely Republican dominated state. Our Democratic party has seemed all but dead at times. This has been an incredible boost of enthusiasm. At my caucus location, I saw friends and neighbors I didn't even realize were Democrats. Sometimes, it's easy to feel like you are the ONLY Democrat in the whole state. But today, we got to see that there are many more of us than we realized.

This has been an amazing day--regardless of which candidate came out on top. ALL Democrats in Nebraska won today. It was my first time caucusing, but I think one of the strengths of it is that you actually get to see that there are other people in your political party. It's an incredibly encouraging and unifying experience, even with the glitches, and even if we're sitting on opposite sides of the room to support our candidates.

I think this has the potential to reinvigorate the Democratic party in Nebraska. So maybe 2% is all that actually showed up this time. Gives us room to grow. But that 2% made history tonight, and every single one of us in that group should be proud of what we accomplished today.

[WillyT]

21. C'mon...

Any general election, let alone primaries and caucuses, is lucky to get anywhere NEAR 50% of the total population to vote. Now take those that have bothered to register, down to those who bother to vote, and divide it up between the two major parties, splintering off those that vote for "lesser" parties, and ya got...

a vast minority of people deciding the vote.

It sucks but...

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

Winston Churchill

:shrug: