Colorado is joining Super Tuesday, March 3 (caucuses are officially DEAD)

[hlthe2b]

Gov. Polis just made it official
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/04/30/colorado-presidential-primary-2020-2/

[George II]

1. TWO good developments - get the primaries done quickly and NO caucuses.

[Kahuna7]

2. Excellent! nt

[NurseJackie]

26. Yes! Totally agree with that! NO CAUCUSES!! Wrap up the primaries FASTER!!

Caucuses are totally unfair and disenfranchise SO MANY people. Caucuses also benefit the candidate who has aggressive caucus-goers and who bully people into supporting him (or her). The sanctity of the secret ballot is absolutely ripped to shreds with caucuses, too.

A LONG and drawn out primary process is also harmful and divisive. It gives the losing (and desperate) candidates more of an opportunity to try and fatally wound their rival... who'll likely win anyway... yet it provides enough ammo for the GOP to run with and exploit in the end.

The longer the battles go on, the more entrenched supporters become... the more tribal and divided the party becomes, the more bitter, resentful and distrustful the losing side/s become... and that only weakens us.

The sooner the primary process is over, the better.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread hlthe2b,

[honest.abe]

4. Somebody wont like that.

BS

[Ford_Prefect]

5. Why not move ALL of the primaries to March 3 and eliminate any unnecessary debate?

Who needs a messy examination of candidate history, facts supporting an issue, positions, or allow for candidate evolution? Someone already declared they are all essentially on the same program.

Everyone pick a brand, or flavor of a candidate on day one and that's what you're stuck with. Who needs awkward human issues gumming up the works? Party Uniformity is the only thing which matters to voters. We don't really need to define what the candidate will do or what agendas to expect Democratic Candidates to pursue in Congress.

That's how we'll beat the Republicans. We'll play the unified party game the way they do...right?

[hlthe2b]

6. Here is the current primary/caucus schedule. It is hardly everyone voting on a single day.

and caucuses are inherently undemocratic sans state legislation to allow/require workers to be allowed to attend or to register their preferences in some manner. Colorado voters saw that and decided to rectify it.

https://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2020-presidential-primary-schedule-calendar/

Date (2020)
State
Mon
Feb 3
Iowa caucusesDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Tue
Feb 11
New HampshireDEMOCRATIC: Mixed
Sat
Feb 22
Nevada caucusesDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Sat
Feb 29
South CarolinaDEMOCRATIC: Open
Tue
Mar 3
AlabamaDEMOCRATIC: Open

ArkansasDEMOCRATIC: Open

CaliforniaDEMOCRATIC: Mixed

Democrats Abroad (to 3/10)DEMOCRATIC: Closed

MassachusettsDEMOCRATIC: Mixed

MinnesotaDEMOCRATIC: Open

North CarolinaDEMOCRATIC: Mixed

OklahomaDEMOCRATIC: Closed

TennesseeDEMOCRATIC: Open

TexasDEMOCRATIC: Open

UtahDEMOCRATIC: Open

VermontDEMOCRATIC: Open

VirginiaDEMOCRATIC: Open
Sat
Mar 7
LouisianaDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Sun
Mar 8
Maine caucusDEMOCRATIC: Closed

Puerto Rico caucusREPUBLICAN: Closed
Tue
Mar 10
Hawaii caucusesREPUBLICAN: Closed

IdahoDEMOCRATIC: Open

MichiganDEMOCRATIC: Open

MississippiDEMOCRATIC: Open

MissouriDEMOCRATIC: Open

North Dakota caucusesDEMOCRATIC: Closed

OhioDEMOCRATIC: Mixed

WashingtonDEMOCRATIC: Mixed
Tue
Mar 17
ArizonaDEMOCRATIC: Closed

FloridaDEMOCRATIC: Closed

IllinoisDEMOCRATIC: Open
Sat
Apr 4
Alaska caucusesDEMOCRATIC: Closed

Hawaii caucusesDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Tue
Apr 7
WisconsinDEMOCRATIC: Open
Tue
Apr 28
ConnecticutDEMOCRATIC: Closed

DelawareDEMOCRATIC: Closed

MarylandDEMOCRATIC: Closed

PennsylvaniaDEMOCRATIC: Closed

Rhode IslandDEMOCRATIC: Mixed
Tue
May 5
IndianaDEMOCRATIC: Open
Tue
May 12
NebraskaREPUBLICAN: Open

West VirginiaDEMOCRATIC: Mixed
Tue
May 19
KentuckyDEMOCRATIC: Closed

OregonDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Tue
Jun 2
MontanaDEMOCRATIC: Open

New JerseyDEMOCRATIC: Mixed

New MexicoDEMOCRATIC: Closed

South DakotaDEMOCRATIC: Closed
Sun
Jun 7
Puerto RicoDEMOCRATIC: Open
Tue
Jun 16
Washington, DCDEMOCRATIC: Closed
No Date
Alaska Caucus (R)
No Date
Alaska Caucus (D)
No Date
American Samoa Caucus (D)
No Date
American Samoa (R Convention)
No Date
Colorado caucuses
No Date
Georgia
No Date
Guam Caucus (D)
No Date
Guam (R convention)
No Date
Hawaii Caucus (D)
No Date
Kansas Caucus (D)
No Date
Kansas Caucus (R)
No Date
Nebraska Caucus (D)
No Date
Nevada Caucus (R)
No Date
New York
No Date
Northern Marianas Caucus (D)
No Date
Northern Marianas Caucus (R)
No Date
South Carolina (R)
No Date
Virgin Islands Caucus (R)
No Date
Virgin Islands Caucus (D)
No Date
Washington, DC (R Convention)
No Date
Wyoming Caucus (R)
No Date
Wyoming Caucus (D)

[Ford_Prefect]

10. My resonse was to the remark by GeorgeII:

"...get the primaries done quickly"

It is a sentiment I feel have seen too often. It seems to me to suggest that there is too much debate and division in the Democratic Party. I don't know that GeorgeII intended to curtail intra-party discussion but he chose some interesting language to apply.

I have watched the corporatist side of our system effectively eliminate debate on issues of substance because it would expose their influence on candidates, and would force the media to encounter facts which don't fit MSM stock in trade political stereotypes.

[hlthe2b]

11. ahh, I see..

[hlthe2b]

8. BTW, here's the current televised debate schedule beginniing in June, 7 months before first primary

or caucus.

https://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2020-debate-schedule/2020-democratic-debate-schedule/

Date/Details
2019
June 26 & 27, 2019
NBC News Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo
Live Stream: NBCNews.com
Location: Miami, Florida
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
Qualifications: A candidate will need to either have at least 1 percent support in three qualifying polls, or provide evidence of at least 65,000 individual donations from a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states.
July 30 & 31, 2019
CNN Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: CNN
Live Stream: CNN.com
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
Qualifications: A candidate will need to either have at least 1 percent support in three qualifying polls, or provide evidence of at least 65,000 individual donations from a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states.
August, 2019
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
September, 2019
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
October, 2019
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
November/December, 2019
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
2020
January, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
January/February, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
February, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
February, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
March, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD
April, 2020
Democratic Primary Debate
Aired On: TBD
Location: TBD
Sponsors: TBD
Moderator: TBD
Candidates: TBD

[NurseJackie]

27. I hope those qualifications tighten-up and get more strict as time goes on.

In my opinion, they're being FAR TOO GENEROUS.

[LongtimeAZDem]

16. Because there is such a thing as momentum, and lesser known candidates need time to get

Last edited Tue Apr 30, 2019, 11:44 PM - Edit history (1)

out their message.

If all of the primaries had happened at once, we might never have had Obama.

[Ford_Prefect]

17. Ah Ha!!! So there is wisdom in persuing the whole process, eh?

Imagine that...

[ecstatic]

19. I think it should be 2 days. The second group of voters could be strategic

and coalesce around another person if they were unhappy with the front runner from March 3. lol. I think doing it all on 1 day is too risky. No chance to self correct or change course.

[Ford_Prefect]

20. An important consideration to be sure...

However I suspect you overlooked the rather implicit sarcasm in several of my comments.

The primary process may seem unwieldy and lacking in fairness to those states who vote later. It was intended to encourage a national dialog on the goals of the party. It was meant be a setting where voters could evaluate candidates on more than headlines, sound-bites and hearsay by presenting them over a period of time rather than a single forum. It was also intended to derive a sense of what the voters have to say on the issues rather than have all of them determined by party patrons and elites in the proverbial smoke filled room, (although the DCCC may have a different interpretation).

[TeamPooka]

21. Yeah, it's not like anyone is campaigning a year out before the vote so you'd have time to know

where they stand on issues.
Lets stretch this out
Maybe we can push the election to 2021 to give you more time for research on the candidates.

[NYMinute]

7. No caucus, no Bernie nt

[MineralMan]

9. Good. Although Colorado isn't a big state, delegate-wise,

that it's joining the Super Tuesday crowd will help clarify and winnow out the field early on.

[kurtcagle]

12. Interesting

The potential exists for a single candidate to have secured the primary by the end of March. California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois will have all voted by then. It makes me suspect that this will have the effect of corralling most of the remaining states to move their primaries into March as well.

[Cha]

13. Yay.. caucuses dead!

[Gothmog]

14. I am glad that another caucus is dead

[BlueFlorida]

15. Caucuses are won by supporters who are bullying

very undemocratic.

[oasis]

18. +1

[Eric J in MN]

22. Is that how Hillary Clinton won the IA Caucus? NT

NT

[honest.abe]

23. No, but that's how Bernie made it a very close contest...

and how he won most of the rest of the caucuses.

We should get rid of caucuses. They are not democratic.

[hlthe2b]

24. Caucus goers can be very persuasive without being bullying...

My own precinct caucus went for Bernie in 2016 though there were a lot of HRC supporters, myself included. I can attest that peer groups formed and pushed for Bernie, but they weren't bullying. It was all very civil, but they had the numbers.

Caucuses are very undemocratic, however, given how unrepresentative they are. Only those highly motivated and ABLE to attend "count". Those who have to work are given no option at all to register their opinions.

[hlthe2b]

25. Not always "bullying" but very undemocratic, I'd agree

[NurseJackie]

28. Agreed! Bullying and intimidation work when the sanctity of the secret ballot...

Agreed! Bullying and intimidation work when the sanctity of the secret ballot have already been SHREDDED! And for those who are caregivers or who must work during the brief window that the caucus events take place... well they're just fucked, aren't they? Totally disenfranchised!

It's a lousy system.

I know that voting is expensive... but that's no excuse.

Haven't primaries-by-mail been proven cost-effective in a couple of states? That's certainly an option that deserves to be considered and explored by those states who claim that voting costs too much, or whose state parties think they can't afford it. It may be that the national party needs to chip-in as well with matching proportional funds.