caucyou caucme caucus

do you want to talk about politics? i mean, the iowa caucuses were last night, so it's hot on everyone's mind.

on the democratic side, hillary clinton and bernie sanders finished in a dead heat. they're both claiming victory, because of course they are, but it was a tie. there was some other guy in it as well, but he got like three votes, so he's done. it's down to those two and it'll be interesting to see who ends up as the nominee. bernie's offering free everything - free college, free health care, free puppies. problem is, there is no such thing as "free" - someone has to pay for it. if he becomes president, he will have his work cut out for him finding people to pay for all the shit he's promising. and, he's got to know that, you know? he's got to know that he's promising the moon with no way to get there. interesting. we'll see.

on the republican side, there are myriad candidates and the finish was dispersed a bit, but three tentative leaders emerged: ted cruz, marco rubio, and donald trump. (if you are time travelling from 2004, yes: donald trump, the goofball with the wonky rug and that new "apprentice" television show. i know, right??) none of them are promising free stuff, but that's republicans for you. stingy bastards.

here's something i want to know: what's the difference in a caucus and a primary? according to diffen.com (tagline: "compare anything") --

"Unlike a primary, where residents simply cast their ballots, a caucus is a local gathering where voters openly decide which candidate to support. The caucus format favors candidates who have a dedicated and organized following because a small band of devoted volunteers can exert an outsized influence in the open setting of a caucus."

well, now. "outsized influence" implies it's bigger than it should be. just because the band of devoted followers is small doesn't mean the influence should not be big, if you see what i mean. if the message is clear and applicable to the larger group, then the influence is more rightsized that outsized. the influence might seem bigger than the group exerting it because the group's number is small, but since the influence is pushing a message that already matches the needs of the larger group, this lessens the influence-requirement of the smaller group. i mean, if the message already matches, then they have to push less to get their way. it's not a greater influence they are exerting, it's a small influence that is just enough to push the larger group into their way of thinking precisely because the larger group is already almost there.

see what i mean?






i wish we had caucuses where i live.