Those caucus delegates Hillary was talking about... there's something going on in Iowa this Saturday

[housewolf]

Iowa's system of choosing delegates to the national convention is a multi-step process. Their caucuses on Jan. 3 was just the first step. This Saturday is the 2nd step, the county conventions.

Those delegates won on Jan 3 were elected to go to the county conventions that are being held this weekend. From these county conventions, delegates will be elected to attend the Congressional District conventions next month and the State convention in June. The delegates are not guaranteed to remain committed to the candidates who won them on Jan 3. In order to maintain their delegates, the candidates must keep their delegates "rounded up".

"In Iowa, precinct caucuses were held Jan. 3 to select delegates to county conventions this weekend. The county conventions will select delegates to congressional district conventions in April and the state convention in June.

National delegates are elected at the congressional district and state conventions _ the third step of the process. If all the delegates for each candidate show up at every step, the national delegates awarded Jan. 3 will remain unchanged.

But if one side is unable to rally its supporters at any step along the way, it risks losing national delegates.

Obama won the Iowa caucuses in January, picking up 16 national delegates. Clinton came in third, winning 15. Under Iowa's quirky system, Clinton won one more delegate than Edwards, even though Edwards got the second most votes.

Edwards' delegates _ and the chance to win them over _ will add intrigue to the Iowa conventions.

"Absolutely they're fair game," said Karen Hicks, a senior adviser to the Clinton campaign. "We are reaching out to a lot of them, trying to persuade them to join our team."

Both campaigns have been working behind the scenes in Iowa for several weeks, rallying supporters to attend the conventions on Saturday.

"We are doing what we can to make sure we hold onto all the Obama folks," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton..."
more... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12/its-back-to-iowa-for-ro_n_91226.html


Confused yet? It looks like we're going to run into this in most/all of the caucus states...

Something to keep us busy between now & PA - we have Iowa, Texas & Nevada between now and PA.

[Emit]

1. This happens in NV, too

After our precinct caucus in January, we had the county convention in February. Edwards' delegates had to realign, and most went to the Obama camp. Someone there told me HRC lost one, too. So, Obama gained some numbers at that level. Our state convention is in May -- I have no idea what happens at that point as far as delegates switching sides or whatnot, but, delegates are narrowed down again and elected to go on to the National Convention in Denver.

[MADem]

2. The Caucus System really DOES suck!! Not only does it disenfranchise, but it

is totally MEANINGLESS.

It's all about fucking about, mucking around, and conning people.

I think primaries are a much better system. Vote, and hopefully, they'll be counted. That's better than this foolish shit.

[housewolf]

3. It's an old system

developed before there was much technology available, sort of a heirarchial dinosaur.

[MaineDem]

4. Similar in Maine, too

Our first step int he process was at caucus level. There we elected delegates to the state convention.

The delegates who attend the state convention then elect national delegates. If ALL the delegates show up and commit to the same candidate as at the caucus, the national delegates will be allocated the same. However, if some don't show up and there are no alternates available, the percentage of delegates allocated to the candidates may differ than at the caucus. It's equally important for the campaigns to get their delegates out to the convention as it was to get supporters out to the caucuses.

[housewolf]

5. That sounds like Iowa

except Iowa has interim steps of county & district conventions.

[Debi]

6. Yep, the nation delegates listed are broken down into county/district/state delegates

and at each convention the candidates have to pass the viability threshold (15%). At the County Conventions this Saturday not only do Clinton/Obama/Edwards have delegates, but so do Biden/Dodd/Kucinich(?)/Richardson. These delegates will have to either try to garner 15% for their candidate or switch to another candidate (or try to gather together to become undecided - with 15% of the vote). Then in April it happens again (1/2 I think of the national delegates are chosen at District) and then again in June (the other 1/2 of national delegates are chosen).

Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns have been organizing. I have received email and mail from the Obama campaign and a robo-call and a (weird) live call from the Clinton camp.

(and I'm just an alternate!)

The thing is - that the Obama camp has made it clear that they are trying to gain as many undecided/non-viable delegates as they can. The Clinton campaign has made it clear that they are attempting to poach Obama's delegates. That could cause some serious discourse at the conventions if they try. Supporters of still active candidates are pretty loyal.