It seems odd that Iowa votes first

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This is a rush transcript.

What’s going on right now? .

For decades, Iowa has been a key testing ground for insurgent Democratic candidates trying to wrest the nomination from the establishment pick. You understand that we have no obligation to monitor any discussion forums, blogs, photo- or video-sharing pages, or other areas of the Site through which users can supply information or material. How does it differ from a primary? “Come on, Iowa, will you get with it, please?”

The senator followed the traditional Iowa playbook by courting religious conservatives, landing the endorsements of prominent ministers and talk show host Glenn Beck. In the Granite State they are fiercely independent and proud of traditionally being the first primary since 1920. Barack Obama, Ill., and former senator John Edwards, N.C. But Bill Clinton in particular never seemed to get over his dislike for the process here, feeling that it was anti-democratic and given to chicanery. In past years, depending on the size of the caucus, this could have been done through a show of hands. It could be a school, could be a church basement, could be a library.

On the Republican side, a few volunteers speak on behalf of the candidates before people privately cast their votes. And then the ballots are tallied, and the votes are apportioned accordingly.

The parties have held their caucuses on the same night for 40 years, but they operate differently. The excitement created by Obama’s candidacy, coupled with the President George W. Bush’s unpopularity among Democrats, inspired a new generation of Iowans to go caucus. His supporters could make the difference for Clinton or Sanders.

Caucusgoers separate into groups in corners or parts of the room for their candidates of choice.

So, that’s what it is.

“When I come in on Air Force One”, he joked, “there may not be as many of these types of deals”. After you do the nominations, then you deal with party platforms.

AMY GOODMAN: Why did the Republicans and the Democrats evolve differently? It wasn’t until the California primary, in June, that Mondale finally scraped together enough delegates to get the nomination.

AMY GOODMAN: Their system. In 1983-84, I was deputy campaign manager to Walter Mondale, who had been Carter’s vice president, in Mondale’s own bid for the presidency.

And that means there are a lot of questions in the air.

Politics and history work in mysterious ways.

“We publish the locations in local newspapers”, he said.

But things get interesting when a candidate has less than 15% of participants’ support. From my experience, most of the-the overwhelming majority of folks that are at the caucus have made up their minds. In 1984, Democrat Walter Mondale won the caucuses with 49 percent. Where does a man like him go from here? – could be answered at another time.

That’s because a big turnout likely helps Trump.

But along with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation privileges come responsibility. Pete D’Alessandro, who is directing the Iowa operation for Sanders, said the staffing has grown from two people in May to over 100 today.

Let’s take that first thing he points out, Iowa’s whiteness. Winning Iowa was a lynchpin of our plan; I think I spent more time in Iowa than any other state.

It’s time for the voices of Iowans to be heard.

“We have a very small
team, but it’s probably the
most effective”. And really, whether you’re in Des Moines or the middle of Detroit, people are people. It’s also important to note that Iowa isn’t a kingmaker. Throw in media reform that gives free airtime to candidates, and pretty soon we could actually be looking more like our ideals than like our entertainment. And if you don’t have-let’s say it is Martin O’Malley. The caucusgoers divide up into groups based on their preferences and listen to others try to woo them to another side.

She brought scores of workers to the state, typically young people paying their dues in Iowa with an expectation that would land them jobs in Washington.