Do you think your vote counts? Are you sure that you know the process? Have you bought into the hype about every individual vote mattering so you better get out there and make your voice heard?
Let’s see if you really know the process. You think there’s a primary, and during the primary you take a Republican, Democrat, or third party ballot and pick the political stud or goddess you want to beat the evil jerk on the other side. Then when the general election comes you go vote for your superstar in a valiant effort to put the good guy or gal in the political position to make a real difference for the kids or the dogs or whoever. Or you vote for the person you think will do the least damage, more likely. Think that’s how the 2012 Presidential election will go? Nope.
The usual method of choosing our Presidential nominee (the Presidential Preference Primary in February) doesn’t apply this year. The Republican and Democratic National Committees each have a preference for when which states choose their nominee. Since they do not have the power to directly choose the dates for the primaries in the states, they attempt to influence this decision by "punishing" states in their delegate count. If a state's presidential primary is sooner than what the RNC or DNC wants, they will cut that state's delegate count in half. The RNC has declared that our primary should not be sooner than March, but our primary is still in February. In order to retain our entire delegate count, the Missouri Republican Party has chosen to use the caucus system as the actual method of choosing our delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Think a caucus is just an Iowa thing? At the risk of repeating myself, nope. We have always had a caucus system, one held in every county every four years. In recent years, delegates to the Republican National Convention were chosen at each Congressional Caucus and the Missouri State Convention, and these delegates to those events were chosen at the county caucuses. This process stays the same. The difference this year is, we vote in a primary in February, but those votes won’t choose who Missourians backs at the Republican National Convention. The caucus, held on March 17 – after the RNC’s acceptable date – will show the rest of the nation where we stand.
Each county caucus will adopt their own rules for their particular caucus that day. These rules will determine their delegate breakdown to the national conventions. A county may adopt a proportional rule, which means that the allocated delegates for the county will be proportionally divided among the presidential candidates according to their showing at the caucus that day. A county may adopt a “winner-takes-all” rule, which means that whichever candidate has the majority at the caucus will receive all the delegates allocated to that county. There may be variations, but those are the two mostly likely options for delegate allocation. The only constant are the logistical details which are dictated by state law. The caucus will be held on Saturday, March 17, at a location within the county – details on that will be forthcoming. The doors will open at 8:00 a.m. and close promptly at 10:00 a.m., the start of the caucus. You must be there by 10:00 in order to participate. The registration will continue past that time only to accommodate those that were in line by then. In order to participate, you must be a registered voter in the county. The same form of ID will be required as if you were at the polls. The caucus will go until all the business is completed. Besides the adopting of rules, voting for the presidential nominee and choosing delegates, there will also be an opportunity to suggest amendments to the Missouri Republican Party Platform, which will be considered at the State Convention. You are not required to stay the entire time, but you will not be allowed reentry. If you have any questions, you may contact Bryan Spencer at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). He is the O’Fallon Township Committeeman and chair of the caucus committee, in charge of putting together the logistics of the St. Charles County Republican Caucus. Please make an effort to be there that day in order to make your voice heard.
Interesting note, because the caucus is held after the primary, it provides an opportunity for someone who may not have met the requirements to be on the MO ballot for the primary to have delegates voting for them. And since this time the caucus actually chooses the delegates AND the candidate, a presidential hopeful who wasn’t on the primary ballot might take the caucus. So Newt, you might have a shot now!