Page 17 - Caucus Process News Today

Run. hes not necessarily appealing to the died in the wool activist republicans you see at caucuses. hes bringing new people into the caucus process. people who never caucused before. you need to have a great organization to get those people out on january 3. you dont just show up in the booth and pull the lever on caucus night. you have to physically go at a certain time and maybe brave bad weather. he needs to have that great organization. but its still a risky group of caucus-goers who have n...

It off in iowa if he does? >> well, ron paul has a serious campaign organization in iowa. he never really disbanded his campaign in iowa after he ran in the 2008 caucuses and came in fifth. he actually has members of the republican state central committee who are supporting him. hes been working for the last couple of years developing a campaign organization in iowa and he has continued to come to the states. so he has been slowly inching up in the polls and bringing new people into the caucus p...

High. so how is this going to play out? is gingrich, is he in the lead in iowa, in your opinion, from what you hear? >> i think gingrich is in the lead in iowa from a mind share perspective. his organization still trails behind where michele bachmann, rick santorum, or even ron paul who has the best organization in the state. he pales in comparison organizationally to them. as my counterpart here said, hes such a known figure. he doesnt need the organization rick santorum needs. i mean, he can g...

High. so how is this going to play out? is gingrich, is he in the lead in iowa, in your opinion, from what you hear? >> i think gingrich is in the lead in iowa from a mind share perspective. his organization still trails behind where michele bachmann, rick santorum, or even ron paul who has the best organization in the state. he pales in comparison organizationally to them. as my counterpart here said, hes such a known figure. he doesnt need the organization rick santorum needs. i mean, he can g...

And i know that the percentage of evangelical christians that go to these caucuses is is very high. so how is this going to play out? is gingrich, is he in the lead in iowa, in your opinion, from what you hear? >> i think gingrich is in the lead in iowa from a mind share perspective. his organization still trails behind where michele bachmann, rick santorum, or even ron paul who has the best organization in the state. he pales in comparison organizationally to them. as my counterpart here said, ...

The caucus process came out of democratic party reforms in light of the 1968 convention. the idea was, we dont want to sigh any smoke-filled rooms. >> iowa caucus historian, jeff stein, said that led to big changes in his state. >> for 1972, they decided to elongate the process, start picking delegates at precinct level, then the county and then the state and to the national connection. -- national convention. so there was citizen input from the start itch the new, elongated process, required io...

>> the caucus process came out of democratic party reforms in light of the 1968 convention. the idea was we dont want to see any more smoke filled rooms. >> iowa kcaucus historian said that led to big changes for his state. >> in 1972 they decided to elongate the process, start picking delegates at the precinct level, then the county then the state and finally to the national convention so there was citizen input from the start. >> that new elongated process required iowa democrats to hold their...

results from the closely watched gop straw poll. im don lemon. joining me is our chief political correspondent, candy crowley. heres the announcement moments ago. >> with 16,892 iowans voting, the winner of the straw poll is congresswoman michele bachmann. thank you, everyone. have a good night. >> a man of few words. congresswoman michele bachmann came out on top in the poll which is one of the earliest tests for the oval office in 2012. some of the thunder may have been stolen by ric...

Three marriages and blamed it partially at his drive at work, the drive he had in washington, how passionate he felt and made him ignore his home life. is that going work as a me mea culpa? >> im not sure thats "the last word" well hear from gingrich about his personal life. >> hes trying to deal with it early. >> i he is. all smart candidates try to take negatives off the table very early. voters pay attention to things at different types. even said this goes to a very small audience. theres a ...

Conservatives are an important part of the caucus process. well see if that explanation will work. >> i was thinking about some of those big mega churches in iowa. >> rudy giuliani never recovered from tisshe issue of the same thing. michele norris i want to read you a quote from michelle bachmann. she seems to be leading more to this idea to run for president. she says what i love about new hampshire and what we have in common is our extreme love for liberty. you were the state where the shot w...