Text 11988, 28 rader
Skriven 2008-03-06 10:21:34 av Jeff Bowman (1:229/500)
  Kommentar till text 11961 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Re: Primary <-> Caucus
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> Can anyone explain to me the difference between a "Primary" and a
> "Caucus"?
 
To the best of my knowledge, a caucus is basically a meeting, where people
discuss which person they want to represent their party, and then gather in
groups based on which they support.  If a particular group is small, others can
attempt to persuade them to move to their group.  Such as Huckabee supporters
trying to garner support from the Ron Paulites, since Paul obviously has no
chance against the big boys.  Criticism of a caucus is that it could lead to
possible intimidation, particularly since there's no privacy in who you
support.
 
A primary is also a meeting where people discuss, but when it comes down to
decision time, they simply vote on a ballot of some sort.  Doesn't have to be
anything fancy, just a piece of paper with a name written on it can work for
some places.  For those that just wish to vote and be done with it, it seems to
be the better choice, but since it's supposed to be for what's best for your
party, one could argue that discussion might be warranted.
 
In both cases, you have to be registered for your party to go, though sometimes
they allow independents.  And of course, how it's done depends entirely on your
local area.  The decision between using caucuses and primaries doesn't seem to
be based on party that I can tell, since both have both types depending on the
state.  Some states like Texas I believe have both a primary and caucus for one
of their parties.  I can't be sure which state or party I saw that for though. 

--- D'Bridge 2.98
 * Origin: FyBBS (1:229/500)