As far as I know Leonard Ernsbarger isn't running for anything but I'm tired of looking at all the presidential candidates so I thought I'd put up a Nevadan. Of course we could all vote for Leonard but I think he might fade in other areas of the country.

One of the oddest parts of presidential politics, an admittedly odd occupation in itself, is the role the Iowa caucuses play in it. Historicly the Iowa caucuses are not really all that important to presidential politics. It is only relatively recently that they have reached the elevated heights that the media have propelled them to.

It is only since 1972 that they began to worm their way into the heart of the process and started, like a lot of bad things, by a series of articles in the New York Times -- that bastion of eastern metropolitan elitism, condescension and boorishness -- on how states that don't have primary elections choose their delegates for the national party conventions.

The caucuses are closely followed by the media and can be an important factor in determining who remains in the race and who drops out. However, that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are important because the media say they are important, not because of any intrinsic value they themselves have.

Most states have primaries. There is a reason for that, they make sense. You vote on your choices just like you vote on anything else, they tabulate the totals and there you go.

Caucuses are different, rather than going to polls and casting ballots, voters in caucus states gather at a set location in each of the state's precincts. They choose delegates to county conventions who go to a state convention and then the state convention chooses delegates to the national convention. It's a long convoluted process and cost far more and accomplish no more than primary elections. Here's how Iowa Democrats do it (from Wikipedia):

"The process used by the Democrats is more complex than the Republican Party caucus process. Each precinct divides its delegate seats among the candidates in proportion to caucus goers' votes.

Participants indicate their support for a particular candidate by standing in a designated area of the caucus site (forming a "preference group"). An area may also be designated for undecided participants. Then, for roughly 30 minutes, participants try to convince their neighbors to support their candidates. Each preference group might informally deputize a few members to recruit supporters from the other groups and, in particular, from among those undecided. Undecided participants might visit each preference group to ask its members about their candidate.

After 30 minutes, the electioneering is temporarily halted and the supporters for each candidate are counted. At this point, the caucus officials determine which candidates are "viable". Depending on the number of county delegates to be elected, the "viability threshold" can be anywhere from 15% to 25% of attendees. For a candidate to receive any delegates from a particular precinct, he or she must have the support of at least the percentage of participants required by the viability threshold. Once viability is determined, participants have roughly another 30 minutes to "realign": the supporters of inviable candidates may find a viable candidate to support, join together with supporters of another inviable candidate to secure a delegate for one of the two, or choose to abstain. This "realignment" is a crucial distinction of caucuses in that (unlike a primary) being a voter's "second candidate of choice" can help a candidate.

When the voting is closed, a final head count is conducted, and each precinct apportions delegates to the county convention. These numbers are reported to the state party, which counts the total number of delegates for each candidate and reports the results to the media. Most of the participants go home, leaving a few to finish the business of the caucus: each preference group elects its delegates, and then the groups reconvene to elect local party officers and discuss the platform.

The delegates chosen by the precinct then go to a later caucus, the county convention, to choose delegates to the district convention and state convention. Most of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention are selected at the district convention, with the remaining ones selected at the state convention. Delegates to each level of convention are initially bound to support their chosen candidate but can later switch in a process very similar to what goes on at the precinct level; however, as major shifts in delegate support are rare, the media declares the candidate with the most delegates on the precinct caucus night the winner, and relatively little attention is paid to the later caucuses."

The over-the-top media coverage of the Iowa caucuses has resulted in some humorous moments over the years. Who could forget the "I have a scream" speech that Howard Dean gave at the end of the 2004 caucus?

Oh well, at least here in Missouri we have a sensible approach to it. Of course it could be better. Personally I'd like to see a more innovative approach to selecting delegates to the national conventions, say mortal combat. Hey, I can dream can't I?