Pip-Squeak Politics...Again

Below you will find my Blog Posting of July 10, 2011 about Iowa and its Caucus Presidential Selection WhatYouMaCallIt. It is craziness but they seem to understand it…Or do they?

I am doing this because the Iowa Caucus and all the craziness that accompanies it is upon us again today.

This Blog Posting will help you understand it…Or will it?

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Actually all of my analysis from 2011 could be all wrong because yesterday I saw an Iowan on TV saying they had fixed their Caucus Presidential Selection WhatYouMaCallIt to make it able to be understood by us Not-So-Smart-People.

I’ll believe it when I see it, but when I see it, I probably still will not understand it.

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Originally Published 7/10/11

Pip-Squeak Politics

American Heritage Dictionary defines Pip-Squeak as…

“One that is small or insignificant”

That sounds about right but it is dead wrong when it comes to Presidential Politics.

Big and Important States, since they are Big and Important States, have an influence upon the states that are not Big and Important States. That's how it is until the Presidential Primary Season starts.

If you don't live in a Big and Important State and you don’t like Big and Important States telling you what to do and think, then move to a Big and Important State, so you can then tell the Little and Unimportant States what to do.

I'm fairly certain you did not understand what I was talking about in the above paragraphs because I'm not sure of what I was talking about in the above paragraphs.

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Why are Iowa, which has .99% of the population of the U.S. and New Hampshire which has .43% of the population of the U.S., in such positions of power and influence when it comes to who our next President is going to be?

Why do they get so much attention and money thrown at them every four years? The winners of these Pip Squeak States Contests do not always win the presidency. Heck, many of the winners do not even get their party’s nominations.

In particular regarding Iowa, every four years most Americans are baffled by the following questions…

• What is a Caucus?
• What is a Straw Poll?
• Is there really an Iowa?

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What in the heck is an Iowa Caucus?

According to a Web Site about the Iowa Caucus by GazetteOnLine.com...

Republican Caucus:

Those attending will indicate their presidential preferences in what is essentially a straw poll. Voting can be done by a show of hands or by paper ballots.

Democratic Caucuses:

The process at Democratic caucuses is more detailed…

• Beginning no earlier than 7 p.m., Democrats divide into “preference groups” based on which candidate they support.
• “Undecided” can be a preference group.
• Generally speaking, a candidate group must have 15 percent of the number of participants to be “viable.”
• Caucus participants have up to 30 minutes to join a preference group.
• After the caucus chairman determines which groups are viable, participants have another 30 minutes to realign, or join a different caucus group.
• Throughout this process, members of a preference group may attempt to persuade other caucus-goers, especially members of non-viable groups, to join their preference group.
• Non-viable groups may merge to gain enough members to meet the viability threshold.
• Or members of non-viable groups may choose to join the uncommitted preference group.
• Or they can choose not to join any group.
• When the preference groups are set, the caucus chairman will determine the number of county convention delegates each preference group is entitled to elect.
• When those numbers are totaled at the state level, the “winner” of the Democratic caucus is the one with the most delegates.

If you say you probably understand all of the above, you are probably kidding yourself.

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The Bottom Line:

The results of the caucuses are not binding on either Republican or Democratic delegates to the county convention. (Did I just hear you say, “Why bother?” Oh, that was not you. That was me.) However, delegates often feel an obligation to follow the sentiments expressed at their precinct caucuses. Therefore, the initial caucus results provide a good indication of which candidate the party’s delegates to the national convention will back.

Now that you understand Pip Squeak Politics I am sure that you are much more comfortable with Little and Unimportant States like Iowa and New Hampshire having an inordinate influence about who your next president will be…Or are u?

I won’t even get into what a Straw Poll is because this Blog Posting has gone on long enough. (I feel badly that many of you agree with the prior sentence.)

Would I kid u?

Smartfella