I’m publishing early today. There could be more tonight.
Brexit
So remember how Boris Johnson wasn’t going to relax the standards that protect Britons? Sure you do. It was only yesterday.[1]
Damn, that didn’t take long.[2]
Francis Elliott, “Boris Johnson dismisses fears about US food standards as ‘mumbo jumbo,’” Times, February 4, 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/boris-johnson-dismisses-fears-about-us-food-standards-as-mumbo-jumbo-jhbbnrd2h
Iowa
I gathered these tweets at around 5 am (Eastern). At that point, Bernie Sanders was in the lead:
Not great optics here, folks:
– Dems paid company literally called Shadow to create caucus app
– Buttigieg campaign also paid Shadow, FEC records show
– Caucus app fails
– Buttigieg declares himself Iowa winner with no results— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) February 4, 2020
Des Moines Precinct 80:
Bernie’s group had 101 people
Pete’s group had 66 peopleBernie & Pete end up tied at 4 delegates following a coin toss.
This is democracy??? 🤔#IACaucus pic.twitter.com/g9q1k67Vpn
— Jaylen (@jaylencavil) February 4, 2020
DNC hired one group of ex-Hillary staffers to design broken vote app that’s undermining confidence in integrity of Iowa vote count—and another group of ex-Hillary staffers policing social media for “disinformation” about integrity of Iowa vote count. Because Russia. https://t.co/xVSbx7xk0h
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) February 4, 2020
Honestly it’s completely ridiculous that an election system that involves a bunch of humans standing on different sides of a goddamn room is having problems reporting results
— Sarah Jaffe (@sarahljaffe) February 4, 2020
The Democratic Party needs international monitors
— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) February 4, 2020
Russia, if you’re listening, please release the caucus results
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 4, 2020
-Iowa Democratic Party uses secretive app for caucus reporting
-App stops working a few hours before caucus begins
-Results trickle in but show dominating performance for Sanders, death knell for Biden camp
-Counting now shut down by DNC for “quality control”I have that right?
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 4, 2020
If you think the #IACaucus delays are bad, wait until you hear about what happens in black or brown precincts across the country. We’re used to waiting.
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) February 4, 2020
I feel like the Russian bots took a look at Iowa tonight and were like, nah why bother
— Alex Wagner (@alexwagner) February 4, 2020
At around 8:00 am, results were still the same:
Fig. 1. Screenshot of Associated Press election results, as of 8:12 am, Eastern time. Note that these results have not been updated since shortly after midnight.
So more from Twitter, from my feed, as of shortly after 8:00 am:
Listen; I'm going to be, but here's my verdict:
A) Bernie won
B) this is about keeping Mayo Pete alive
C) Joe Biden is finished
D) Warren is going to lose her fucking mind when she finds out what Pete just tried to do to her, so it won't be just Bernie demanding answers
— Hunter Prado, PhD (@NatSecReporter) February 4, 2020
This is about the DNC denying Sanders & the Not Me-US campaign the recognition & momentum of the first step in the primaries.
This is 1% hired help Buttigieg showing he is Carl Rove's protege.
This deliberate cock-up is an "honorable" out for the dead on arrival Biden campaign— Palli Davis Holubar (@palliddh) February 4, 2020
So let's recap.
First, Pete Buttigieg stops Iowa polls from being published.
Then, with 111 votes for Bernie and 47 for Pete, they both receive 2 delegates at a caucus.
Now, he funded the app that was supposed to track the caucus but ended up crashing, delaying the results.— Nikola (@niktaylorde) February 4, 2020
FURIOUS
A whole new generation of voters is energized and excited by #Bernie and #NotMeUs. They are the future of our democracy. And this pathetic display by the Democratic Party risks demoralizing and alienating them.
Absolutely shameful.#IowaCaucuses #Iowa #IACaucus
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 4, 2020
If the DNC wasn’t so honest, I would suspect that they deliberately screwed up the Iowa count to mess up the news of a Sanders win. https://t.co/asJzY4mOaz
— Cartoonist Ted Rall (@TedRall) February 4, 2020
What needs to happen:
– UN election monitors called in
– Independent investigation
– Mass resignations at DNC
– #TomPerezResign
– Recent Perez appointments revoked
– #MayorCheat Pete Buttigieg must drop out#Iowa #DNCRigging #Election2020 #IACaucus #BernieWon pic.twitter.com/NA5RRVoXEZ— Polly Tickal (@PollyTickal) February 4, 2020
BOTTOM LINE:
The DMR poll winner was denied a boost from the poll.
The #IACaucus winner was deprived a prime time victory speech.
No matter who that candidate is, it is deeply unfair and blunts what could be a major momentum surge.
UNACCEPTABLE#IowaCaucuses #Iowa
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 4, 2020
Things didn’t go smoothly in the Iowa caucuses as the Democratic Party cited ‘inconsistencies’ for delaying results.[3] It’s to be expected that some will say, especially after 2016, that Bernie Sanders winning would be ‘inconsistent’ with Party dogma.[4] But of course, proper answers won’t be forthcoming.
Natasha Korecki, David Siders, and Alex Thompson, “‘It’s a total meltdown’: Confusion seizes Iowa as officials struggle to report results,” Politico, February 4, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/03/iowa-caucus-2020-election-110600
John McCormick and Ken Thomas, “Democratic Caucus Results in Iowa Thrown Into State of Confusion,” Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/iowa-caucuses-to-kick-off-democratic-nominating-contest-11580731200
- [1]Daniel Capurro to Front Bench list, “‘We like rules, just not your ones,’” February 3, 2020, http://m.email3.telegraph.co.uk/nl/jsp/m.jsp?c=%40ZjegS%2FZfBFiLTRy45i23NUyEmWQyDeGxTFK%2F9Gq0nfk%3D&WT.mc_id=e_DM1191159&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FrB_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FrB_New20200203&utm_campaign=DM1191159; Christopher Hope, “Boris Johnson team ‘infuriated’ as EU reneges on free trade deal,” Telegraph, February 1, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/02/01/boris-johnson-infuriated-eu-reneges-free-trade-deal/↩
- [2]Francis Elliott, “Boris Johnson dismisses fears about US food standards as ‘mumbo jumbo,’” Times, February 4, 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/boris-johnson-dismisses-fears-about-us-food-standards-as-mumbo-jumbo-jhbbnrd2h↩
- [3]Natasha Korecki, David Siders, and Alex Thompson, “‘It’s a total meltdown’: Confusion seizes Iowa as officials struggle to report results,” Politico, February 4, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/03/iowa-caucus-2020-election-110600; John McCormick and Ken Thomas, “Democratic Caucus Results in Iowa Thrown Into State of Confusion,” Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/iowa-caucuses-to-kick-off-democratic-nominating-contest-11580731200↩
- [4]Donna Brazile, “Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC,” Politico, November 2, 2017, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774; Justine Coleman, “Obama privately said he would speak up to stop Sanders: report,” Hill, November 26, 2019, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/472090-obama-privately-said-he-would-speak-up-to-stop-sanders-report; Ryan Lizza, “Waiting for Obama,” Politico, November 26, 2019, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/11/26/barack-obama-2020-democrats-candidates-biden-073025; Alex Shephard, “The Impotence of ‘Stop Sanders’ Democrats,” New Republic, April 18, 2019, https://newrepublic.com/article/153605/impotence-stop-sanders-democrats↩