So today was another caucus day for Democrats. And look Alaska gets to play too!

Sorry I'm a little late with this but I spent the afternoon after the caucus watching "Batman vs Superman" with my newly returned daughter. (Two and a half hours, why do movies have to be so long these days?)

So by now you all know that Bernie won all three states up for grabs today.

While I cannot speak for Washington and Hawaii, I can tell you that Bernie won big in Alaska.

In fact the damn lines were several hundred deep even before the place opened up at 9:00 AM to let us all in to West High School where the caucusing took place.

I essentially stayed incognito, though at least one person called me out by name and tried to get me to volunteer to be a delegate.

My daughter was, of course, rubbing it in my face that there was such a huge pro-Bernie crowd.

I actually did interview a couple of young men about why they were supporting Sanders.

The first guy responded with, and I kid you not about this, "I'm too stoned to answer any questions."

I could have left if there, but that is just shoddy journalism, and the next few gentlemen really did have much better answers.

All in all the young people are very fired up, and I certainly hope that they hang onto that enthusiasm even if their candidate is not the eventual nominee.

We certainly need that kind of fire if we are going to keep the Republicans out of the White House.

Update: It looks like Sanders won Washington in a landslide as well. 

The Palin curse strikes again as Ted Cruz wins Alaska in last night's Super Tuesday caucus.

Courtesy of the Trump Tramp's Facebook page.

Courtesy of The Atlantic:  

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is projected to have won the Republican presidential caucuses in Alaska. 

With all the precincts reporting, Cruz narrowly defeated Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, 7,973 votes (36.4 percent) to 7,346 (33.5 percent), according to the Associated Press. 

Alaska will send 28 delegates to the Republican convention in Cleveland on July 18. The win gives Cruz 12 delegates. Trump, who had secured the support of Sarah Palin, the state’s former governor, will take home 11. Marco Rubio, the U.S. senator from Florida, who finished third in the state, will get five. Alaska Dispatch News reported that, in all, 21,930 votes were cast.

So even though Sarah Palin virtually destroyed what little credibility she still had among conservatives by endorsing Trump, she still could not even help him to win her home state.

Sad.

Not only that but apparently she could not even convince one of her family members to caucus with her either.

I mean where's Todd? Or Willow? Or Bristol? Or anybody really, besides one of the people in the state that she pays to be her friend?

Like I said, sad.

Or from my perspective, really really satisfying. 

Republicans using skeevy tactics to steal Nevada caucus votes from Hillary Clinton. Update!

Press release from UNR College Republicans suggesting members could caucus twice: pic.twitter.com/L5fnGS2JrU

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) February 19, 2016

Courtesy of Politicususa: 

The party that screams about voter fraud while getting busted for voter fraud is at it again. This time, it’s a loophole Republicans have found in Nevada that will allow them to caucus in the Democratic caucus and then again in the Republican caucus days later. 

Republicans are urging their fellow Republicans to take advantage of the loophole reported yesterday by Ralston Reports.

Here is an e-mail sent by Nick Vander Poel, a Republican activist: 

Please forward to family and friends and fellow GOP caucus goers. 

I was able to confirm through a former Secretary of State elections official as well as a former County Clerk. Both said and confirmed that Republicans can show up on Saturday, February 20th and register as a Democrat if you have a burning desire. Then still be eligible to participate to caucus on Tuesday for GOP candidate of choice. 

What was also confirmed. The caucuses are NOT a state sanctioned election, the caucus is conducted by both parties. So this is NOT illegal and you will be arrested or fined. So put that rumor to rest. 

Some call this idea silly but the reality is, with low turnout the Democrat caucus is going to close and every little bit is going to help. 

Again, here are the details/loophole of how this is possible:

Apparently this is the loophole:  

A Republican registered by Feb. 13 could show up at a Democratic caucus site on Saturday, switch to the Democratic Party, vote and then still participate on Tuesday because the party switch would not show up on the GOP caucus rolls.

Cute right? and unfortunately also perfectly legal.

Oh for those who are a little slow on the uptake, the person these fake Democrats are being encouraged to caucus for is Bernie Sanders.

No Republican fears Bernie Sanders, but they are flat terrified of Hillary Clinton.

And I would urge you to take all of those polls saying Sanders can win the general election, and Clinton cannot, with a huge grain of salt. Because I think that there is a VERY concerted and carefully organized effort to sell that mythology.

Update: It looks like an actual Sanders supporter even tried to place an obituary for Hillary in a local paper: 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday reported a possible threat related to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after a man tried to place an obituary notice for the former secretary of state. 

The man, who identified himself as Don Schubert, was asked to leave the newspaper building's lobby after he filled out a standard obituary form identifying the deceased as Hillary Rodham Clinton, and listing her date of death as Feb. 20, 2016, the date of Saturday's Democratic Party presidential caucuses. Previously he had called the newsroom to complain about the coin flips that determined the outcome of some Iowa caucuses last month. 

The man was seen leaving the RJ parking lot in a maroon Toyota Prius bearing several Bernie Sanders campaign stickers. A security guard said he was also wearing a Sanders sticker on his shirt. The official Sanders campaign website lists "Don Schubert's House" in Long Beach, Calif., as the site of a volunteer phone bank. 

Newspaper security officials reported Schubert to the Secret Service.

By the way apparently the Secret Service DID indeed visit this idiot.

Getting a little difficult to tell the actual Bernie supporters, from the Republicans impersonating them.

Update 2: You can get live updates on the Nevada caucus here.

Update 3: Okay well it appears that Clinton has won the Nevada caucus, so I guess the nasty tricks ultimately proved ineffective. 

So if you ever wondered how Donald Trump would deal with defeat, wonder no more. Not well, not well at all.

Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

During primetime of the Iowa Caucus, Cruz put out a release that @RealBenCarson was quitting the race, and to caucus (or vote) for Cruz.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

Many people voted for Cruz over Carson because of this Cruz fraud. Also, Cruz sent out a VOTER VIOLATION certificate to thousands of voters.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

Holy crap!

Hey look, I think that Cruz's tactics were sleazy and underhanded as well.

But so are Donald Trump's.

Let's face it from this point forward things are only going to get a whole lot sleazier and a whole lot nastier. 

All you need to know about Ted Cruz was summed up in Iowa by his supporter Phil Robertson.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

“Don’t you understand that when a fellow like me looks at the landscape and sees the depravity, the perversion — redefining marriage and telling us that marriage is not between a man and a woman? Come on Iowa! It’s nonsense. It is evil. It’s wicked,” Robertson told the crowd. 

“It’s sinful. They want us to swallow it, you say. We have to run this bunch out of Washington, D.C. We have to rid the earth of them. Get them out of there. Ted Cruz loves God.” 

When Cruz appeared on stage, he reflected praise back at Robertson. “What an extraordinary human being,” the candidate said, claiming that “God makes every one of us unique, but some are uniquer than others.” 

“What a voice Phil has to speak out for the love of Jesus,” Cruz added. “What a joyful, cheerful, unapologetic voice of truth Phil Robertson is.”

Oh yeah, he's "uniquer" alright. 

If "uniquer" is another word for intolerant bible thumping asshole that is.

Essentially this is how Cruz won Iowa. By surrounded himself with religious fanatics, homophobes, and anti-government anarchists who think that Cruz is going to single handedly destroy the government and introduce some kind of hyper Christian theocracy that will hand the country back to them on a silver platter.

The fact that it worked should send a chill down ALL of our spines.

According to Gawker Ted Cruz's wife is disgusted by Iowans. Wait, SHE'S disgusted?

Courtesy of Gawker:  

“Heidi has repeatedly been complaining about how disgusting the voters and whole scene in Iowa is,” our source told Gawker. “She says everyone smokes cigarettes, eats horribly, and wants to hug and touch her all the time. She said that she has to go back to the hotel and take a shower multiple times a day due to this environment.” 

According to Heidi’s Twitter, meanwhile, meeting all those Iowans has been “so wonderful.”

So wonderful to meet so many Iowans today! #CruzinToCaucus pic.twitter.com/397GX6ahUt

— Heidi Cruz (@heidiscruz) January 9, 2016

Oh yeah she REALLY looks like she enjoys meeting these people.

Personally I would think that anybody who allowed Ted Cruz to touch their naughty bits would have a rather high tolerance for disgusting.

Though to be fair Heidi HAS had a long time to become immune to Ted's special brand ofick.

Remember it was only back in 2005 that police found her by the side of the road with her head buried in her hands. 

I guess after eleven years you can learn to tolerate anything.

So just hang in there Iowa, someday Heidi Cruz will be able to handle you without having to fight her gag reflex.

Sadly the same cannot be said for the rest of us when it comes to her husband.

So it appears that Hillary Clinton did indeed win the Iowa caucus. But only by the slimmest margin ever!

Courtesy of the Iowa Democratic Party:

IDP Chair Dr. Andy McGuire released the following statement on tonight’s 2016 Iowa Democratic Precinct Caucuses: 

“Tonight we saw an historically close Iowa Democratic Caucus that featured one of our strongest turnouts ever and passion and energy from Democrats all across our state. 

“After a year where Iowans took the time to see candidates, ask them thoughtful questions, and became volunteers and leaders themselves, tonight 171,109 Iowa Democrats came together with their neighbors to engage in a spirited discussion on the future of our country. We saw passionate, engaged Iowans turn out in all 99 counties, and for the first time ever, the IDP ran both a Tele-Caucus and satellite caucus locations, fulfilling our promise to expand participation and improve on an already incredible process. 

“The results tonight are the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history. Hillary Clinton has been awarded 699.57 state delegate equivalents, Bernie Sanders has been awarded 695.49 state delegate equivalents, Martin O’Malley has been awarded 7.68 state delegate equivalents and uncommitted has been awarded .46 state delegate equivalents. We still have outstanding results in one precinct (Des Moines—42), which is worth 2.28 state delegate equivalents. We will report that final precinct when we have confirmed those results with the chair.

Okay so essentially, according to the Iowa Democratic party, there are not enough outstanding results to move the needle far enough to give Sanders the victory.

That's good to know because last night I went to bed unsure as to who exactly should be taking a victory lap.

In fact when Hillary gave what was essentially a victory speech, I was a little put off and thought it was arrogant.

However as it turned out she was right, so hat's off to her for having better information than the rest of us.

Of course before she takes any victory laps it must be noted that several of the counties that the Clinton campaign "won" were decided by a coin toss.

Personally I have less confidence that Hills can win in New Hampshire, however if she pulls it off, even with margins as slim as the ones in Iowa, that could start her inevitable surge to the nomination.

Iowa caucus open thread. Update!

Places! Places! We start in 5 minutes!#Decision2016 #Iowa pic.twitter.com/zlFSoxw274

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) February 1, 2016

This is where I will have the old TV machine tuned tonight.

I have to say that after a day like today I am a little politic'd out.

And WAY over-served on Palin stupidity for one day.

I would usually push myself away from the smorgasbord and call it a day, but I know I have a job to do and I do so try to meet my obligations.

So let's watch as these spoiled rotten Iowans eat up the media attention while giving us the first indication as to how this upcoming election might go.

(And yes I realize that Iowa has a very hit and miss record for picking eventual nominees.)

 Here is Palin and Willow, looking frumpy next to the exotic Ivanka and Melania, watching a Trump rally in Cedar Rapids.

Update: You can watch live updates by clicking here.

Large crowds are being observed and pundits have predicted that will help Sanders and Trump.

Update 2: Does not get much tighter than this.

Halfway there! 51% is in. #IowaCaucus #FeelTheBern https://t.co/eqjQ7SVx64 pic.twitter.com/Pk63bGTR9g

— GrassrootsForSanders (@GRForSanders) February 2, 2016

Update 3: Cruz is the projected winner on the GOP side.

Update 4: Word is that Martin O'Malley is planning to suspend his campaign, as is Mike Huckabee.

Two down. One from each side.

Highly respected pollster finds Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton leading among likely Iowa caucus goers.

Courtesy of Vox: 

The Iowa poll the political world has been eagerly awaiting is finally here — and it has great news for Donald Trump. 

On Saturday evening, Bloomberg Politics and the Des Moines Register released the results of their final Iowa caucus poll, which is conducted by by widely-respected pollster Ann Selzer and has been extremely accurate in recent years. 

For the Republican race, the poll found Trump in first among likely caucusgoers with 28 percent, Ted Cruz in second with 23 percent, and Marco Rubio in third with 15 percent. Ben Carson is in fourth with 10 percent, and no other candidate gets more than 5 percent support. 

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is ahead with 45 percent among likely caucusgoers, followed by Bernie Sanders with 42 percent. Martin O'Malley is very far back, with just 3 percent.

According to Politico Selzer is the go to pollster in Iowa:

The poll, conducted by legendary Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, has long been influential and accurate: Selzer’s surveys predicted victories by Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee in 2008, and foresaw Rick Santorum’s late surge in 2012.

Apparently the poll also demonstrated a slight surge for Trump, with no negative impact resulting from his skipping of the last Fox News debate, and a more secure hold on supporters for Hillary.

Well the caucuses are tomorrow, so I guess we will see how accurate these poll results are after the numbers come in.

Ted Cruz campaign sends mailer attempting to shame people into caucusing in Iowa.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:

On Friday night, images began circulating from an Iowa resident showing a mailer from Ted Cruz’s campaign shaming people into going to caucus on Monday. 

An image of the mailer, yellow with an all-caps header in red reading “Voting Violation,” was shared on Twitter by Tom Hinkeldey of Alta, Iowa. He said he was inspired to caucus on Monday for Marco Rubio instead as a result of the cloying mailer. 

The text on the manila envelope-looking piece read: “You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.” 

In addition to this, the mailer listed Hinkeldey’s wife’s name as well as a group of his neighbors, all of whom, according to the mailer, get ‘F’ grades for their voting history.

According to the Iowa Secretary of State the mailers misrepresent Iowa election law.

Not only that but the guy who brought this mailer to attention of the media, Tom Hinkeldey, responded in this way. 

I am not sure if there will be any consequences to the Cruz campaign for distributing private information like this to people's neighbors, but there should be.

Sadly it appears that the Cruz campaign might have been inspired by a similar incident that happened up here in Alaska back in 2014.

Great. You know when I say I want Alaska to lead the nation, this is NOT what I have in mind.

Well it looks like Sarah Palin is still pimping for Trump even while back home in Alaska dealing with her woman beating son.

Fun Fact - there are more Iowa residents who follow this page than voted for the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucus. So, let...
Posted by Sarah Palin on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Okay well at this point I think it's safe to assume that Donald Trump offered Palin some kind of a deal.

Let's face it she does not show this kind of loyalty for free.

Especially since it seems to be costing her some of her last "bitter clingers."

Comments courtesy of Facebook:  

Dianne Flynn Trump doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for him. I didn't think Sarah was like that, but now I wonder what kind of "deal" he made with her. 

Brian Benton Sara, I have always respected you and pulled for you. Now I have lost some respect for you. I can not believe you truly think that Trump the Chump is the right person. He has backed the Clinton's and Obama. I could very well see him change parties after he is elected. This man can not be trusted one bit!! 

Kathy Corvo Wow I won't be voting for him. He's a childish man who wants to control the press? So childish and unworthy of the office. I don't care what he may or may not have promised you. There are far more qualified people running out there like Mike Huckabee. I'm an independent conservative and I've never been for Trump. He treats people like he's the king and they are his servants until his porridge gets served cold. No way. I'm voting for another candidate who has always held firm on his positions on life and constitution and has experience as a governor. You know why that is important. And he's not rude to his detractors. Geez. 

Aaron Levacy My Brother kept telling me "Sarah is a Pure Opportunist" I stood up for her. Now I know what he meant. Cruz 2016!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmm, it looks like many of them have reached the same conclusion we have, that Sarah Palin is a political prostitute who can be purchased for the right amount of money, or for the promise of future employment.

By the way does anybody really buy that there are more Iowa residents following Sarah Palin's Facebook page than participated in the 2012 caucuses?

If that is really true I think Iowans need to take a good hard look at themselves and ask just what in the hell they have been doing with their lives. 

If only Iowans were allowed to vote in Presidential elections Chris Christie and Jeb Bush would not stand a chance.

A new poll shows that Iowa Republicans do not want ANYTHING to do with what they see as establishment candidates.

Here is more courtesy of the Washington Post: 

While Romney's favorable/unfavorable split is 57/40 (This poll was taken before Romney took his name out of contention.), Bush's is even worse: 46/43. And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's image is downright bad: 36 percent favorable vs. 54 percent unfavorable. Again, this is among Republicans. 

Other, less establishment-oriented Republicans don't have this problem. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) is at 64/25. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is at 66/28. Walker is an unparalleled 60/12. None of the Democrats have this problem, either; Hillary Rodham Clinton is at 84/15, Vice President Biden is at 78/20, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) is at 58/11. 

The reason voters are picking on Romney, Bush and Christie? It's because they are perceived as too moderate. Thirty-seven percent each say Romney and Bush are too moderate, while 46 percent say that about Christie. Nobody else comes close.

Personally I don't think the Iowa caucus means anything for Republican candidates these days. After all Huckabee won in 2008 and Rick Santorum won in 2012. Did anybody see their name on the ballot for those years?

However it does indicate that if Jeb Bush has any hope of attracting the Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin crowd he is going to have to do some serious pandering.

Oh and he needs to awkwardly eat a corn dog as well.

For some reason these conservative folks in the Midwest just love seeing a politician cram a piping hot tube of meat in their mouths.  I'm not sure why.

Waiting for the results from Iowa. Updates.

Here is a graphic which shows how much each candidate spent on advertising.

Click here if graphic does not enlarge for you.

Right now MSNBC is predicting that this is a contest between Paul Santorum, and Romney.

And it looks like it is devolved into a political knife fight at the very end.

From the Washington Post:

After months of talking and thousands of words, the Republican campaign in Iowa reached its terminal phase on Tuesday. There was only time for insults. 

“Ron Paul is disgusting,” former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told a handful of Fox News reporters Tuesday morning. He was blaming Rep. Paul (R-Tex.) for automated phone calls in Iowa, which told voters that the vehemently anti-abortion Santorum was, instead, more supportive of abortion rights. Paul’s campaign did not immediately respond. 

“Very liberal.” Paul said that Monday about Santorum, his main opponent in the long contest to be the conservative alternative to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Paul’s argument was that, while in the Senate, Santorum did too little to cut government spending. 

A liar. That’s what former House speaker Newt Gingrich — still trying to be an alternative to all of the above — said about Romney on CBS’s “Early Show” Tuesday morning. He was sticking by a charge he’d made about Romney on Sunday, when he said, “somebody who will lie to you to get to be president, will lie to you when they are president.”

So much for Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment. Is it wrong that I get so much enjoyment from watching the GOP eat their young?

I will keep this post up to date as results roll in.

If you hear anything send me a shout out in the comments.

Update: With 88% in it is still too close to call between Romney and Santorum. But it looks like  Ron Paul is NOT going to take Iowa this year.

Color me unsurprised.

Update 2: Santorum and Romney are separated by only  37 votes.

Essentially Santorum is ahead by just hair. I won't identify from where.

Update 3: Romney now ahead by 41 votes.

Seismologists report no Palin earthquake detected by their instruments. They thought they detected a spike on the Richter scale, but it was chalked up to canned goods hitting a refrigerator someplace in Alaska.

Update 4: It appears that Perry may not be quite as slow as everybody thought he was.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Perry had said he would take the campaign directly to South Carolina, skipping New Hampshire to fight on in the conservative southern state. 

But Mr. Perry said on Tuesday night that he had changed his mind. He did not officially drop out of the race, but said he would return to his home in Texas to decide what to do.

It looks like "Brokeback" Rick might no longer have that "fire in the belly." 

At this point I cannot imagine what is keeping Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann in this race.

Update 5: It does not seem that anybody is ready to call this contest yet, but it looks like Santorum MIGHT just have eked out a victory with barely a handful of votes separating him from Romney.

Way to go Iowa. Apparently you are damned and determined to make your caucus irrelevant.

Assuming of course it was ever relevant in the first place.

Update 6: In the immortal words of Rick Perry, "oops."

Here I go to bed confidant that that Iowa blew it by allowing Santorum to win the caucus, only to wake up and realize that Romney slaughtered him by eight entire votes.

Slaughtered I say!

Why do caucuses seem to favor Obama?

Obama has won every single caucus so far this year with the exception of Nevada. While Hillary seems to do better in actual primaries.

I just heard Bill Clinton say that the reason for this is that Hillary supporters are the people who "actually need a President", and are working class people who may not be able to get the time off from work.

This may be one of the stupidest things I have heard so far in this campaign.

Number one, the caucuses are held in the evening when most people are not working. (Unless Bill would now like to claim that most Hillary supporters work the swing shift.)

Number two, the very idea that Obama and Hillary are courting some totally different demographic is ridiculous.

Now I participated in the caucus here in Anchorage, Alaska. What I found was a chaotic, frustrating, and poorly organized mess. But what I also found is that the majority of the people who showed up were the Obama people.

So if the caucuses really do favor Obama (a fact of which I am not totally convinced), I would say that the main reason would have to do with one simple thing. Enthusiasm.

The caucus process can be intimidating and frustrating, so those who are really inspired and determined will stick it out. While those who are less fired up may simply walk away.

And if my theory is accurate, which goes without question, then Obama will continue to win every single upcoming caucus, and probably a few primaries as well.