Iowa Holding Nation’s First Primary Tonight

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Steve Benen linked today to a Des Moines Register piece about how the Iowa caucuses work, and when I clicked through I found this graphic:

And there you have it. In one unintentionally funny graphic, the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

On a more serious note, I see that the Republican caucus really doesn’t work the same way as it does on the Democratic side. Here’s the Republican version:

  1. Show up at your precinct.
  2. Elect a caucus chairman, take care of “general business.”
  3. Mark a ballot.
  4. Leave.

So aside from having to listen to a bit of dull throat clearing and possible electioneering before voting, is there really anything left that makes this a caucus and not just a primary? It sure doesn’t sound like it.

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GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

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