Your next 2020 Democratic presidential primary thread: Now we're serious

Bernie's ppl have numbers and he appears to be in good spirits. Good enough for bedtime.

I think these caucuses are being run almost entirely by volunteers. Same goes for elections where voters go to polling places. And the average age of poll workers is well over retirement age. Democracy in the USA has a huge component of DIY.

everyone running my precinct was very competent and remained friendly despite the voters fucking
some things up, and the fact we were in a small gym with one chair for every six people

The app wasn’t rolled out by volunteers though

*poll* workers in elections are generally retirement age, but nearly everyone working the caucus was in their 30s or 40s. some were people I hang out with!

xxxxpost i saw that shawn sebastian call live and thought if there's not a better bellwether for 4 more years of trump, i don't know what is.

none of those people fucked up. it's whoever was in charge of collecting the votes from all the individual caucuses. they made an app which sucks and doesn't work, there's a hotline (just one??) which everyone's on hold with, etc

xp

I've avoided CNN and only heard about their freak out second hand. I'll note that NYT has Bernie on top and Warren second and Biden at the bottom. I'm glad she's rebounded if that holds even though I decided last week I'd vote for Sanders over her.

Robbie Mook is going to be grifting the Democrats until we're all long in our grave. They'll upload his consciousness once we hit the singularity just so he can fuck up the 2102 election.

i don't know wtf nyt is reporting. 0% of precincts are in

i'd express caution on those nyt results, akm - it may be based on a tiiiiiiiiny sample of the actual results

I'll note that NYT has Bernie on top and Warren second and Biden at the bottom. I'm glad she's rebounded if that holds even though I decided last week I'd vote for Sanders over her.

― akm, Monday, February 3, 2020 11:59 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

this is based on almost no actual votes.

I recognized a few people in CNN footage, including someone I met last year who moved here to canvass for the ACLU

Is the app actually malfunctioning? Official sources are saying the app is fine but nonetheless caused “inconsistencies” in the data.

Is the app failing to function when it is properly used as designed? Or is the design just difficult to use? Or is the problem in poor training for its users? Or a mix of these?

I would imagine the NYT had people reporting at particular caucuses and recorded the final counts at those locations, which are read aloud

I think the app must be broken and they’re pointlessly lying

I was told by at least one Democratic aide here in Iowa that the app would reset if the screen wasn’t kept open.

— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 4, 2020

(WSJ)

xp

I’m not their biggest fan but this coverage is not the greatest look for the democratic party

Party caucuses are way messier to run than piggybacking a primary election onto the state's existing elections apparatus.

thoughts and prayers to all middle/high school students whose well-intentioned social studies teachers gave them homework to make like a bar graph of the primary results

xp

they are if you are a credulous DNC official who hires grifters to build an app. the caucuses themselves went fine.

Counting is hard. Whats wrong with paper ballots again?

$

these are correct takes

There is already a great, deliberate effort to flame the fans of conspiracy riding the Iowa screwup wave. 2020 can be an unmitigated disaster. I still cannot believe that they decided to do this via an app. The levels of incompetence required to make that decision are staggering.

— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) February 4, 2020

A phone app programmed by a small shop for a single purpose, which isn't vetted by the outside, world might be buggy. Might not be intuitive. It was probably a dumb idea to use it, and plenty of people said that before tonight, but that doesn't suggest anything's hacked.

— Kevin Collier (@kevincollier) February 4, 2020

@nataliejmooney @degg @BronzeHammer i fuvked up. this app is garbage. sorry

— wint (@dril) December 12, 2015

I got 99 counties but a glitch won’t run

I don't think anybody summed up the anger and the chaos of tonight better than Wolf Blitzer just a minute ago: "You and I should be at the magic wall right now, John."

who’s angry other than freaks glued to the news

Or on the news

otm

i'm angry because

1) the usual suspects are saying this proves the 2020 primary is "rigged", which has an incremental effect on public trust, turnout, etc. each time it happens, and creates space for misinformation.

2) i have worked with bay area tech idiots who moved directly into civic tech and are now fucking things like this up for a profit. thanks i hate them.

everything i learned about crisis comms comes from veep, but even i know the iowa democratic party would be much better served if they would, er, try to communicate and provide some sort of timeline. jake tapper in a range trance referred to them as a "tragedy of systemic incompetence"

i don't care if CNN have to rethink their schedule.

range rage

That was a tongue-in-cheek post, Silby...but you may be overlooking the candidates, who I'm guessing--not publically, but actually--are very angry.

Three different sources say a firm called "Shadow" developed the Iowa Dem caucus app. They haven't responded to comment, neither has Iowa Dem Party. The firm was paid by both Nevada & Iowa Democratic Party, disclosures show. Also by Mayor Pete's campaign.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) February 4, 2020

who is stoked for NEVADA?!?!

oh good

Important - Biden camp saying results might not be trusted. https://t.co/1s54raKv4A

— Rick Klein (@rickklein) February 4, 2020

apparently pete just made a speech declaring victory?

oh god

I think I just figured out that I have met the story county guy who called into CNN to say he was on hold with the reporting office, only to lose his chance to report because he was busy talking to Wolf Blitzer, who then apparently then called into MSNBC

he... likes attention iirc

argh yeah caek I see your point re: legitimacy

watching the opening excommunicado moments of john wick 3 and i think the dnc could learn a thing or two

CNN, which only showed a minute or two of Warren's speech, is showing the entirety of pete's really long ass speech

I really can't stomach this guy

Iowa, you have shocked the nation.

By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 4, 2020

have to imagine this at least means pete's internal reporting has him as the winner

Shadow hired to ratfuck iowa. cool beans

xp he was sadly dominating the dsm suburbs i heard about : /

victorious means more than 15% imo

Xp pete is full of shit and helped pay for this “result”