Some changes in the primaries

[Andy823]

The little-noticed change that could boost Biden and hurt Bernie in 2020

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/03/2020-elections-caucuses-democrats-primaries-bernie-sanders-1078031

"In 2020, four of the caucus states that Sanders won — Nebraska, Idaho, Minnesota, and Colorado — will use primaries to determine how many pledged delegates were allocated to each Democratic candidates.

More could soon follow. Utah has a new law on the books permitting political parties to use presidential primaries, and an official in the state Democratic Party said it expects to opt in. Maine passed a bill in 2016 to establish a presidential primary, but a top state Democrat said it sunsetted and was not immediately funded."

I live in Washington state and there is talk here about doing away with caucuses and going to primary only. In the past we have had both, but only the caucuses counted. We still had a primary and thousands more voted in them than the caucuses, but our votes in the primary did not count. I think it will change for 2020.

[VarryOn]

1. Caucuses should be done away with...

There's a higher chance of outlier results. They require completely different approaches by campaigns versus primaries. The time commitment factor disenfrachises a lot of voters.

I'm sure there are many more cons.

[Andy823]

3. I agree

Primaries allow more people to voice their opinion, and it gives a better idea of the actual support of the different candidates.

[NurseJackie]

5. Secret ballots are sacrosanct.

Caucuses invite bullying and exclude anyone who works during caucusing hours, or who is a caregiver and can't afford to be away from home/job for the amount of time it typically takes for a caucus to complete.

[Andy823]

9. I agree

There was a lot of bullying going on in 2016, and we don't need that again.

[honest.abe]

2. Good.

Caucuses are undemocratic.

[NurseJackie]

4. Caucuses are undemocratic. They invite bullying and intimidation.

[Andy823]

6. I agree 100% nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Political calculations aside, this is the right thing to do. n/t

[Amimnoch]

8. Good.

ADBB - Any Democrat but Bernie or Bust.

Never again.

[Trenzalore]

10. Hopefully all the states follow suit including Iowa

Doubt Iowa will ever switch because it would trigger a war with NH to be the first primary but we can have dreams.