Morning Jolt: Iowa’s Democratic Disaster

On the menu today, Iowa's Democrats give America a night it will never forget, for all the wrong reasons, while Republicans have a delightfully boring and predictable caucus night.

The Night the Iowa Caucus Died

For Iowa Democrats, the night of February 3, 2020 will forever rank among the greatest disappointments, frustrations, and purely enraging humiliations of their lives. As of 6:35 a.m. Eastern this morning, the Iowa Democratic Party simply . . . cannot tabulate the votes!

The delay is baffling, as anyone should be able to do this with a spreadsheet program or even a sheet of paper. Yes, there is a lot of data — there are about 1,600 precincts — but they held these caucuses before the Internet or mobile phone technology. The data-tabulation app may have failed, but the human mind is allegedly capable of functioning without an app.

Note that this is only an issue in the Democratic caucus. Four years ago, Iowa Republicans recorded their vote totals for each candidate; you can look it up today and know that Ted Cruz won 51,666 votes and Donald Trump won 45,429 votes.

You can't do that for the Democratic results of four years ago ...

WITH JIM GERAGHTY February 04 2020 WITH JIM GERAGHTY February 04 2020 Iowa's Democratic Disaster On the menu today, Iowa's Democrats give America a night it will never forget, for all the wrong reasons, while Republicans have a delightfully boring and predictable caucus night. The Night the Iowa Caucus Died For Iowa Democrats, the night of February 3, 2020 will forever rank among the greatest disappointments, frustrations, and purely enraging humiliations of their lives. As of 6:35 a.m. Eastern this morning, the Iowa Democratic Party simply . . . cannot tabulate the votes! The delay is baffling, as anyone should be able to do this with a spreadsheet program or even a sheet of paper. Yes, there is a lot of data — there are about 1,600 precincts — but they held these caucuses before the Internet or mobile phone technology. The data-tabulation app may have failed, but the human mind is allegedly capable of functioning without an app. Note that this is only an issue in the Democratic caucus. Four years ago, Iowa Republicans recorded their vote totals for each candidate; you can look it up today and know that Ted Cruz won 51,666 votes and Donald Trump won 45,429 votes. You can't do that for the Democratic results of four years ago ...   READ MORE

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