Word: bender
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...favored candidate didn't meet the viability threshold - any candidate who fails to garner at least 15% of support after the first vote is disqualified, and his or her supporters are forced to pick their second choice. "I think it's a pretty good form of democracy," says Richard Bender, the original architect of the caucuses, who designed them to ensure that minority voices (e.g., anti-Vietnam voices, then) in the party were fairly represented and had a say in electing delegates to the state convention. "The 15% rule some people don't like. If I'm for Candidate...
Iowans have come to realize that their choice holds enormous sway over the rest of the country, and they place a premium on electability, Bender says. "There are candidates who will spend $15 million to $20 million in Iowa before this is over and you're talking about the difference of maybe two, three, four thousand people. TIME magazine [is] going to put somebody's face on the cover versus somebody else's face because of a difference of maybe 6,000 votes...
...awareness, Iowa's Democratic caucus-goers have become genuine wonks, able to query presidential hopefuls on the smallest details of their policies. As a group, they're also able to temper their own liberal inclinations. "Jimmy Carter was not liberal. He was probably one of the most moderate candidates," Bender says. "Even though caucuses are somewhat liberal, the focus on electability somewhat mitigates their liberal orientation...
There are five categories of caucus-goers, according to Bender, and many voters span several categories: the party core; the union and association members; those who support a particular candidate; those dragged along by voters in the first three groups; and the merely curious. "The thing about the 'drag' and the 'curious' is that it's really hard to poll beforehand who they are because they don't know who they are until just before the caucuses," Bender says. Even inside the caucus room the 'drag' are unpredictable because they are so prone to changing horses...
...candidates have been established, the first round of jockeying begins. Groups supporting each of the candidates begin sweet-talking their friends and neighbors into joining their side, if only to give their candidate a shot at the second round. "There are all kinds of complicated dynamics going on," Bender says. "It's always been that way and I think people enjoy...