“The Iowa Caucus occurs on January 3rd, 2008. Why is the Iowa Caucus so important to Presidential politics? How does the hell does this caucus thingie work? Creepy Sleepy explains this strange, convoluted process. Kind of. Creepy Sleepy show 132 was joined by political junkie, blogger, and Iowa resident Greg Hollingsworth, as well as SCOTUS Correspondent for the Talk Radio News Service, Jay Tamboli to explain and discuss the caucus process.From the Wikipedia entry on the Iowa Caucus:
The Iowa caucus operates very differently from the more common primary election used by most other states (see U.S. presidential primary). The caucus is generally defined as a ‘gathering of neighbors.’ Rather than going to polls and casting ballots, Iowans gather at a set location in each of Iowa’s 1784 precincts. Typically, these meetings occur in schools, churches, or public libraries. The caucuses are held every two years, but the ones that receive national attention are the presidential preference caucuses held every four years. In addition to the voting, caucus attendees propose planks for their party’s platform, select members of the county committees, and discuss issues important to their local organizations. Unlike the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, the Iowa caucus does not result directly in national delegates for each candidate. Instead, caucus-goers elect delegates to county conventions, who elect delegates to district and state conventions where the national convention delegates are selected. The Republicans and Democrats each hold their own set of caucuses subject to their own particular rules that change from time to time. Participants in each party’s caucuses must be registered with that party. Participants can change their registration at the caucus location. Additionally, 17-year-olds can participate, as long as they will be 18 years old by the date of the general election. Observers are allowed to attend, as long as they do not become actively involved in the debate and voting process.”
(via Creepy Sleepy)