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    Live from the Caucuses!

    By CJP | January 3, 2008

    We've just attended our first caucus at Ankeny Presbyterian Church in Ankeny, Iowa. The church hosted two precincts for the Democrats and one for the Republicans, and gave us a lot of food for thought. We were but a wee part of a huge logistical feat (props, Iowa!), but here are some observations in case you've never been to a caucus:
    • The volume, energy and sheer number of attendees in the Democratic caucus dwarfed those of the Republicans.
    • Here are the Dems in Ankeny: dem-caucus.jpg
    • And here are the R's: rep-caucus.jpg
    • The Republican group assembled quickly, took their seats quietly and sat in silence as they wrote the name of their first choice on a gold piece of paper.
    • The Democrats started 15 minutes late because they were overwhelmed by the number of first-time and newly registered caucus-goers.
    • The group for Hillary was older and more female than the others. Edwards' group was made up mostly of men in their 40s, 50s and 60s. The Obama group was the most diverse and the youngest.
    The totals for the Republicans: Huckabee: 81, Romney: 34, McCain 34, Thompson: 24, Ron Paul: 15, Giluiani: 5, Duncan Hunter: 1. The totals at the precinct for the Democrats: Obama: 116, Clinton: 100, Edwards 66. The state-wide totals seem to mirror those results generally, although Edwards and Clinton are tied at the moment. Huckabee will win Iowa, with Romney 10 points behind and Thompson and McCain fighting for fourth. We also saw lots of Janes out there caucusing for their picks on both sides- well done girls! That's our democracy at work, and now its on to New Hampshire, South Carolina and beyond....

    Topics: Voting

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