I’m not quite sure what the other scenario is, but if there were no caucuses, in Mpls via RCV the only participation would be “all eligible voters participate in the general election.” We still have that now! The only difference is a party does its business among its members openly. - ThreadSky

dbrauer.net • 5 days ago

I’m not quite sure what the other scenario is, but if there were no caucuses, in Mpls via RCV the only participation would be “all eligible voters participate in the general election.” We still have that now! The only difference is a party does its business among its members openly.

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max1mil.bsky.social•5 days ago

"Caucuses are the worst endorsement process except for all others which have been tried"

IMO the real issue is candidates not abiding the endorsement if they don't get it. I wish the DFL would have some sort of penalty for this. Wastes everyone's time and confers advantage to candidates with money.

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

I’m the opposite on this. I think it’s a defacto improvement. I know it rocks when your candidate nabs endorsement & forces shitty candidates out, but it IS too unrepresentative to be THAT determinative. Our rec carries weight! I would prefer rankings/acceptables if state let us in local races.

max1mil.bsky.social•5 days ago

I think about Walz forcing the other candidates for governor to blow resources on the endorsement process, exhausting volunteers, losing the endorsement to Erin Murphy, and then just dumping money into the race to win anyway.

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

Without endorsement process do you think Erin (presumably with whatever resources she had intact) have come as close to the nomination?

max1mil.bsky.social•5 days ago

I think you're misinterpreting my position. I am in favor of this process. I just want there to be penalties for candidates who choose to seek the endorsement then continue their race if they don't get it. I don't know what that would be, but it's the main issue I see.

derzquist.net•4 days ago

I think the ultimate penalty is simply you don't get to put the party name under yours on the ballot. You either have to run as an independent or get endorsed by a completely distinct ballot line party.

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

As I’ve noted, caucuses/endorsements really don’t eliminate anyone (no one even says they’ll abide by endorsement unless they know they’ll win it). It’s an organizational test and while we should talk improvements getting rid is grass/greener. Love to here non-caucus alternative.

daphsci.bsky.social•5 days ago

primary election. Go straight to it. What issues do the caucuses address if the endorsement is just window-dressing and not binding? I always hear it allows the smaller, not big-money candidates a chance to get traction, but in Mpls, it's really more important if you are connected to other electeds.

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

First, endorsement is not window dressing - think of it as a gold star. The fact that it’s not binding is GOOD imho. But it is a gold star awarded by a much larger group of voters than a PAC or various special interest political committees. Second, if you re-institute a primary, is it RCV? 1/x

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

2/ if it isn’t RCV, then we re-summon problems of the pre-RCV era: a still-pretty-small group of voters (much smaller than current RCV election) that DO force candidates out, and do cost even more money. If you hate money in politics, raising $ for primary+general way more expensive than caucus/RCV

snyde043.bsky.social•5 days ago

This. People who advocate for a return to primaries either don’t know how poor the turnout was for them or that’s what they want back so they can exert their outsized influence.

daphsci.bsky.social•4 days ago

Wrong. I want a process that includes more than 5% of the voters on a good day.

dbrauer.net•5 days ago

3/ And now that you’ve gotten rid of RCV, every voter has to return to gaming the system, not necessarily voting for their first choice but having to guess how everyone else will vote to guard against a least favorite winning.

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