Word: caucuses
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...Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee, victory in last Thursday’s Iowa caucuses means increased media exposure, a jump in donations, and a surge in polls nationwide. All of these gains supposedly justify the $30 million the candidates spent on advertising in Iowa and the approximately 350 visits to the state they made during the election season, which would otherwise be difficult to fathom considering Iowa’s few delegates. We are deeply troubled by this system. It gives undue influence, during each election cycle, to a handful of states with early primaries or caucuses, while...
...South Carolina, which holds its primary on Jan. 26, half the Democratic electorate is African-American; though many have been wary of Obama's chances so far, that could change if he starts to pile up victories. Clinton might instead focus her attention on Nevada, which holds its caucus a week earlier, in hopes of snaring a victory there on presumably friendlier turf. But if Obama continues to gain strength - particularly in the face of attacks by Clinton's campaign - he undercuts her argument that she is the strongest and most electable candidate. And if he can stand...
...Democratic rules only egged on the chaos, especially because there weren't any. I, for instance, was allowed to walk around during the voting process and talk to anyone I wanted. Out-of-state caucus tourists - the only group dorkier than fantasy league baseball owners - walked around freely. The first person I talked to, Margie Nelson, the Obama precinct captain, threw a set of plastic beads with an Obama tag around my neck. Wanting to be a good caucus goer, I offered to take off my top, but Margie suggested I refrain. She also made a huge batch of homemade...
...meeting started when Larry Staunton, a professor of physics and astronomy and hence the only person capable of caucus math, went over all the procedures. The packed room immediately motioned to eliminate candidate speeches, voting over platforms, reading letters from the governor, and electing, among other party positions, members for the "the committee on committees." A tear welled in my eye as I realized how beautiful democracy can be. Then they passed around an envelope to stuff cash in for the party, and my eyes dried right...
These are busy times for Pakhshan Zangana. Head of the women's caucus in the Iraqi Kurdish parliament in Arbil, she is on the verge of pushing through a piece of legislation that is the first of its kind in the Middle East - a law criminalizing female genital mutilation (FGM). "Sixty-eight out of 120 deputies signed our bill, so we could have got it passed by ministerial decree," Zangana says. "But law-making is the job of parliament, and we want everybody to debate this issue openly." The bill received its first reading on Dec. 3 and is likely...