Our Observer’s experience of a caucus in Iowa city

Want to know what a caucus is really like? Our Observer Sam Sadden took part in one in Iowa city. Here are some photos of the event and Sam's take on the evening's events.

We caucused in the cafeteria of a local high school. The organiser of the caucus explained the process to us. In total we were 288 people at this precinct. He explained that for a candidate to be "viable," 15% of the people in attendance needed to be in the candidate's group, so 44 for ours. Our precinct had 4 delegates to divide, this number being decided from the turnout of votes from 2004 I believe. I had multiple people supporting different candidates ask me who I was going to support and if I would consider their candidate. Along the walls of the cafeteria, posters and tables were set up by volunteers. Most candidates had a table set up with food, cookies and drinks. It is a very open atmosphere. Once the organiser had given his instructions, we were given 30 minutes to decide which candidate we wanted to support by walking over to their table."

Post your questions to our observer, Sam Sadden

John Edwards supporter giving a speech

Here’s a John Edwards supporter giving a speech about why we should choose him. Before splitting up into groups, a supporter for each candidate was given 2 minutes to make a speech. Most supporters stood on the cafeteria tables to give their speech. Afterwards, we moved into groups to show which candidate we supported. People who remained undecided stayed in a group near the center of the cafeteria."

"To get 1 delegate = 44 people, to get 2 delegates = 144 people"

Obama supporters making a speech for their candidate. Both are law students. Obama won 2 delegates at our precinct with 144 supporters. The process of dividing up the delegates is quite confusing. To get a delgate, a candidate must be viable. But to get 2 delegates, Obama needed to get half of everyone there. So in our case, to get 1 delegate = 44 people, to get 2 delegates = 144 people. The 7 Kucinich supporter eventually sided with the Obama crowd. When they walked to the Obama group everyone clapped and cheered, well except for the Edwards and Clinton supporters!"

"The Biden group was nearly viable"

Here is a Biden supporter counting people and deciding which candidate to support. The Biden group was nearly viable and teamed up with the Richardson and Dodd groups. There was a lot of cheering when someone new was recruited. Members of the Obama, Clinton and Edwards group went to the Biden group to try to persuade members to come to their groups. There was a lot of tactical voting going on. There was some yelling and it got quite heated. In the end, the Biden group was not viable and did not get a delegate. After the second round of group making, we got into our groups and did a final count. About 30 people remained in the Biden group even though they knew that their group would not be viable."

And a Republican...