Reply #12: Because they disenfranchise one of the most loyal voting blocs [View All]

[MADem]

The ELDERLY. Old people don't caucus as much--they can't stand for long periods, they often can't get out of their nursing/rest homes and vote absentee, and they are underrepresented at caucuses.

The HOSPITALIZED, who cannot get up out of their sickbeds to caucus, but who can vote absentee.

The POOR, for whom transportation is often an issue, and who frequently fall in the shift worker category mentioned below.

They also disenfranchise SHIFT workers, who ARE the "working class, salt of the earth, preponderance of voters." Retail clerks, police, fire, other public safety types, hospital workers, security guards, cabbies, call center workers, ANYONE working that mid shift is fucked.

They disenfranchise the MILITARY--deployed, on duty? Screw you--no vote for YOU.

They disenfranchise anyone who DARES to leave their state during the caucus, be it for a family vacation, a celebration like a wedding, a business trip, a family emergency, you name it.

They just aren't serious or "for real," these gatherings of hyper-earnest partisans. It's one thing to pop in and vote, any time from eight in the morning till eight or nine at night.... it's another to have to dedicate an evening to the process--and maybe have to miss work, and one fifth of your weekly paycheck, in order to voice your opinion--how many people would willingly give up a fifth of their weekly pay to say what they think, when the kids need shoes and the light bill hasn't been paid??

Caucuses are a fun game for activists. They don't mean shit. Really, if they did, President Harkin (and I wouldn't have minded him, he's a swell fellow) would have had a great term.