In the annals of the human race, there are instances of situations where if those involved had been given a choice beforehand, they might have declined altogether.
Among these are the Charge of the Light Brigade, Dante's Inferno, and the 2016 GOP Linn County Iowa Caucuses.
For those who think my use of the image of a herd of stampeding Elephants is hyperbole, may I present this link to a video of the pandemonium?
THAT is what you get when you try to squeeze 30 Precincts into one location.
Most people would realize that your average person might show up at the last moment, and if your expected numbers are going to be between 3500 and 4000 at that location?
It will not be tidy.
I told all my friends, in particular, the ones who told me they had been informed to arrive about 6:30,
"No NO NO!
"5:30 or earlier!"
As for myself, I took a cab downtown at about 4:00, got a bite to eat, and then went and checked things out.
Sometimes things are even worse than you imagined.
I counted the seats for my precinct and thought,
Not enough.
I was right.
People for my precinct and others ended up standing.
It seemed like it took until about 8:00 for the Presidential addresses to start.
By the time they finished the Presidential addresses, it was around the same time we had finished the entire Caucus four years ago.
Then the question was,
Where to count the ballots?
It wasn't like there were tables available to place them on and count them.
How could there be tables, when there wasn't even enough room for all of the chairs we would have needed?
I spotted a bare portion of wall with some space in front of it.
Our candidate witnesses and counters knelt down, much like a football huddle.
They put the ballots in the middle and counted them there.
While they were counting, almost everyone left.
At our last presidential year caucus, OVER 90% of ours attendees stayed for the rest of the business.
This year I don't think 10% stayed.
To put this in persepctive:
Presidential polls did not take place during Iowa Caucuses until the 70s.
Their original purpose was to conduct party business:
To elect County Central Commitee persons to represent the precincts for the following two years;
To appoint members of the County Convention committees: Organization, Credentials, Rules, and Platform;
And to appoint delegates to the County, District, and State Conventions.
As far as fulfilling the original purpose of the caucus in Linn County--at least, at the Doubletree--this year was an abysmal failure.
As for the Presidential poll?
Considering how many people decided to leave and not participate even before the Presidential voting,
There is no way of telling how much damage was done and to whom.
I do not know how others may view the Doubletree Cataclysm.
But as for me?
I give our leadership a score of ONE DUMP.
Updated: Wednesday, 3 February 2016 12:37 AM CST
Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post
