I'm with them:
The largest Democratic caucus site in Iowa's Johnson County in 2020 held nearly 900 people, said local activist John Deeth — a far cry from the glorified image of Iowans debating presidential politics in a neighbor's living room.
"People who defend the caucuses say it's a good organizing opportunity," Deeth said. "But you can't organize when you're dealing with crowd control and anger management."
That's among the reasons Deeth introduced a resolution at the local party's off-year caucus recently to support ending presidential preference caucuses in Iowa and instead hold a primary election. The caucus group adopted the resolution on a vote of 39 to 11.
The resolution has few practical implications for the future of caucuses but it highlights a growing divide within the Iowa Democratic Party. Some Iowa Democrats, like Deeth, have grown more vocal in their push to abandon caucuses — and Iowa's coveted first-in-the-nation status if necessary — in order to adopt a more inclusive nominating process.
Caucuses are, by design, more exclusive than standard primaries because they require participants to be physically present at a specific time for a process that can take hours. Though Iowa Democrats have sought ways to make the process more accessible, caucuses do not allow for true absentee participation and can exclude people with disabilities, shift workers and those without reliable transportation, among others.
"Iowa Democrats keep saying, 'Voting should be convenient. Voting should be easy, except at the caucuses. And then you have to go and stand in the corner for three hours to vote,'" Deeth said. "That's unacceptable, and that is more important than whose turn it is to go first."
More:Iowa Poll: Iowans show increased willingness to adopt presidential primary after 2020 debacle
But it would not be as easy as adopting a primary and maintaining Iowa's place at the front of the nominating calendar. New Hampshire has a law that is strictly enforced by its secretary of state, Bill Gardner, requiring it to hold the nation's first primary.
Abandoning caucuses — or even adopting rules that look too similar to a primary — could trigger Gardner to move up his primary so that it remains first.
The Iowa Democratic Party did not immediately return a request for comment, though Chairman Ross Wilburn has said repeatedly that maintaining Iowa's first-in-the-nation status is a top priority.
Republicans, who use a much simpler process to caucus, have also emphatically promised to defend Iowa's status quo.
The largest Democratic caucus site in Iowa's Johnson County in 2020 held nearly 900 people, said local activist John Deeth — a far cry from the glorified image of Iowans debating presidential politics in a neighbor's living room.
"People who defend the caucuses say it's a good organizing opportunity," Deeth said. "But you can't organize when you're dealing with crowd control and anger management."
That's among the reasons Deeth introduced a resolution at the local party's off-year caucus recently to support ending presidential preference caucuses in Iowa and instead hold a primary election. The caucus group adopted the resolution on a vote of 39 to 11.
The resolution has few practical implications for the future of caucuses but it highlights a growing divide within the Iowa Democratic Party. Some Iowa Democrats, like Deeth, have grown more vocal in their push to abandon caucuses — and Iowa's coveted first-in-the-nation status if necessary — in order to adopt a more inclusive nominating process.
Caucuses are, by design, more exclusive than standard primaries because they require participants to be physically present at a specific time for a process that can take hours. Though Iowa Democrats have sought ways to make the process more accessible, caucuses do not allow for true absentee participation and can exclude people with disabilities, shift workers and those without reliable transportation, among others.
"Iowa Democrats keep saying, 'Voting should be convenient. Voting should be easy, except at the caucuses. And then you have to go and stand in the corner for three hours to vote,'" Deeth said. "That's unacceptable, and that is more important than whose turn it is to go first."
More:Iowa Poll: Iowans show increased willingness to adopt presidential primary after 2020 debacle
But it would not be as easy as adopting a primary and maintaining Iowa's place at the front of the nominating calendar. New Hampshire has a law that is strictly enforced by its secretary of state, Bill Gardner, requiring it to hold the nation's first primary.
Abandoning caucuses — or even adopting rules that look too similar to a primary — could trigger Gardner to move up his primary so that it remains first.
The Iowa Democratic Party did not immediately return a request for comment, though Chairman Ross Wilburn has said repeatedly that maintaining Iowa's first-in-the-nation status is a top priority.
Republicans, who use a much simpler process to caucus, have also emphatically promised to defend Iowa's status quo.
Iowa's Johnson County Democrats calls for replacing caucuses with a presidential primary
"Iowa Democrats keep saying, 'Voting should be convenient. Voting should be easy, except at the caucuses,'" said Johnson County activist John Deeth.
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