I'm not sure it's enough to make Bernie the winner, but then again when you only lost by four delegates out of nearly 1,400, it wouldn't take that much, would it?
Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire the day after Monday's caucuses said no review would be conducted and that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s narrow victory overBernie Sanders is final.
But as errors are being discovered, the final tally is being changed, party officials confirmed to The Des Moines Register Friday morning
"Both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have flagged a very small number of concerns for us, and we are looking at them all on a case-by-case basis," Iowa Democratic Party spokesman Sam Lau told the Register.
The Register, too, has received numerous reports that the results announced in its precinct Monday night don't match what the Iowa Democratic Party has posted on its official results websites.
Just one example: Grinnell precinct No. 1.
At least three caucusgoers there (including Dan McCue and Zack Stewart) and the Grinnell College newspaper reported that Sanders won 19 county delegates and Clinton 7, but party officials said the final tally was Sanders 18 and Clinton 8.
“19-7 is right,” Pablo Silva, a Grinnell College professor who was precinct secretary, told theRegister Friday morning. “It is complicated, but the issue comes down to a problem with the math that can be complicated in large precincts. Short version: On Monday night, the IDP felt we had not done it right and they attempted to correct what they saw as errors. We’ve been in touch since then. They are acknowledging our results, but, as I write, will wait on the arrival of our paperwork.”
So at first the Dems said the results are final, that's it, no review, end of story.
Now we're being told that even if Bernie wins every dispute, it still won't be enough to make him the winner. Now I'll be the first to say that I don't understand the convoluted process by which the Democrats conduct their caucuses - and no, it doesn't interest me enough to learn. But if there are numerous disputes and you win every one - and you only lost by four delegates to begin with - how can that not at least give you a shot at the win?
The ultimate effect of all this is negligible, of course. Caucuses are about delegate allocation for the Democratic National Conventional later in the summer, and in a state contest this close you're talking about a very tiny swing in the delegate count. But I'm sure both campaigns see the greater value in the psychological value - and the media narrative - of being able to call yourself the winner. And that seems like peril for Hillary no matter how this turns out. Remember, she was supposed to be the inevitable nominee preparing for her coronation, and the challenge from an elderly socialist crank was supposed to be merely nominal.
If she holds on as the winner in Iowa, she just did it by the skin of her teeth and there will still be suspicions that she cheated. And if she loses Iowa, that combines with her expected loss in New Hampshire to make her 0-2 to start the primary season. Not a very impressive record for someone who was supposed to steamroll to the nomination.
It may be that Sanders can't ride that early momentum to the nomination himself, but if there was really enthusiasm for Hillary among the Democrat base, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
