Last week saw the fiasco that was the Iowa caucuses. Today the Democratic hopefuls head into the New Hampshire primaries, with Iowa’s results still murky. It looks like Pete Buttigieg is sitting at thirteen delegates and Bernie Sanders at twelve, per Bing! search results.
After the pandemonium last week, I expect the New Hampshire primaries will run a bit more smoothly. For one, they’re simple primaries, not Iowa’s convoluted caucus system, which requires voters to stand in parts of a room to represent their vote, then a reshuffling for candidates who don’t reach 15% support in the first round.
Indeed, at least one precinct—a very small town in New Hampshire that votes starting at midnight saw three write-in votes for Michael Bloomberg (out of a total of five votes). I heard on the radio this morning that another small New Hampshire town cut for Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
For another, the Democrats have gotsta be scrambling for a good showing after Iowa. Of course, the Democratic Party has never been known for its sobering self-reflection, so who knows how they might screw up this round. If the allegations that they’re trying to block Bernie are true, there’s no telling what kind of shenanigans we could see tonight.
New Hampshire’s results should make for some interesting commentary and analysis tomorrow. It’s looking like there’s a roughly 30% chance (again, per analysis I heard on the radio) of a brokered convention for the DNC (FiveThirtyEight puts it around 24%).
The Portly Politico 