How do the Iowa Caucuses Work?

[Paul4Prez]

I found this thread on how the caucuses work, at least for the Democrats:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/1/151631/653

I assume the Republican caucuses are similar?

One thing they mentioned is that your overall percentage of support doesn't directly correlate to your results -- you have to have support spread geographically across the state. Howard Dean had a lot of support in Iowa, but it was concentrated in a few districts with a lot of college students -- Ron Paul may face the same issue.

[Mastiff]

Republican caucuses are different. We have a "straw poll" at the beginning of the caucus, right away, which is secret ballot. I think many people just go for that part and then leave. After that, there's the platform discussion and the selection of delegates. From what I understand, the straw poll is many times more important than the delegates. This is probably just because the PR value of doing well in Iowa is so much more value than the relatively few delegates we get.

[M.Bellmore]

Republican caucuses are different. We have a "straw poll" at the beginning of the caucus, right away, which is secret ballot. I think many people just go for that part and then leave. After that, there's the platform discussion and the selection of delegates. From what I understand, the straw poll is many times more important than the delegates. This is probably just because the PR value of doing well in Iowa is so much more value than the relatively few delegates we get.

Who votes in the straw poll? How can we leverage the big Iowa event this weekend to get as many of those votes as possible?

[Mastiff]

Who votes in the straw poll? How can we leverage the big Iowa event this weekend to get as many of those votes as possible?

Anyone who shows up to their caucus location on time can vote. They have to register republican, but they can do that there.

[M.Bellmore]

Anyone who shows up to their caucus location on time can vote. They have to register republican, but they can do that there.

So when does the registration for Republican cutoff?

[Mastiff]

So when does the registration for Republican cutoff?

Never, you can register at the caucus. It would look better if all the Paul people didn't register on-site though. We don't want it to look like we're all outsiders.

[M.Bellmore]

Never, you can register at the caucus. It would look better if all the Paul people didn't register on-site though. We don't want it to look like we're all outsiders.

Is there anything (beside morals) stopping a candidate from paying people (busing them, feeding them, giving them $$) to vote?

[Mastiff]

Is there anything (beside morals) stopping a candidate from paying people (busing them, feeding them, giving them $$) to vote?

I don't now. I'm sure you can bus them, and probably feed them on the bus or whatever. Flat out cash payment might be a problem.

[RockEnds]

Never, you can register at the caucus. It would look better if all the Paul people didn't register on-site though. We don't want it to look like we're all outsiders.

We can declare party affiliation on-site (and change party again on the way out the door), but we must register to vote at least 10 days before the caucus.

[M.Bellmore]

I don't now. I'm sure you can bus them, and probably feed them on the bus or whatever. Flat out cash payment might be a problem.


Hm. Then given what happened last time in Iowa, what is our strategy to conteract that? Can we get that RP friendly band to have a free concert?

[Paul4Prez]

What's the normal turnout, in actual number of caucus-goers?

What's the plan to identify every Ron Paul supporter in Iowa before the caucus? What about auto-dialing, and giving people a chance to respond by pressing a number to gauge their support: 1 = dedicated Ron Paul supporter, 2 = leaning to Ron Paul, 3 = undecided, 4 = supporting someone else.

What's the plan to get them to the caucus sites? Follow up with all the #1 and #2 respondents to the question above.

I suspect that voters in NH and NV support Ron Paul at a higher rate than voters in Iowa and elsewhere, but low-turnout events like the Iowa caucus are made-to-order for a candidate like Ron Paul with lots of volunteers. We have to use that advantage to the fullest.