Roger Simon has an in depth look at the process of the Iowa Caucus and the whole thing is a recommended read. Some excerpts:
Because it is so difficult, it is a true test of the ground game: the ability of campaigns to identify, win over and deliver voters under conditions that are borderline bizarre.
“First-time caucus-goers get the shock of their lives,” says Michael Mauro, Iowa’s secretary of state. “They don’t know they have to stand in a corner, and there is no secret ballot.”
The process can take more than two hours. It is done only at night. People get to make speeches, argue and twist arms. And, afterward, neighbors sometimes stop speaking to each other for years.Turnout is very low for the caucus, less than 10 percent of the voting-age population.
Though the caucus will not take place until Jan. 3, effective campaigning may be over well before then because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The caucus (actually 1,781 separate precinct caucuses for each party) was originally conceived as an insiders’ game designed for party regulars, party activists and people who devoted time and money to the party.
The voting process is not as easy as a primary: The voters must gather at 7 p.m. on a winter’s night — the night of the Orange Bowl, no less — there are speeches, and getting voters to show up is not easy.
There are other questions: which candidates are holding potluck suppers before the caucus to help ensure that voters show up, which are providing baby sitters and which has the most tire chains.
And then there is the matter of the temporary chairmen.
In each precinct, Republican and Democratic, somebody has to show up with all the stuff: paper, pencils, rule books, etc.
That person is the temporary chair. The temporary chair is selected by the party, and on caucus night, the temporary chair is almost always elected as permanent chair and runs the caucus.
The smart campaigns try to get as many of their people as possible selected as temporary chairmen.And in the Iowa ground game, a game of inches, a vote or two here and there can make all the difference.
And in other Iowa news, Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley predicts Mitt Romney will win win the caucus.
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