Cock-Eyed

Tonight, it's all about Iowa. But in February, it'll be Maine's turn to trudge to the presidential caucuses around the state and decare its choices for Democratic and Republican nominees. Too bad nobody, not even Mainers, will care then.

By the time Maine Democrats gather on February 10 to pick their presidential preference, some thirty states will have already chosen that party's nominee for president. Therefore, the Maine Dems' pick will probably be inconsequential, a mere formality for the candidate who has already sewn up the Democrats' nomination. To be fair, Maine Republicans, who caucus February 1-3, will probably have more of a say in their party's nominee, since Maine will be the eighth state to vote for the Republican candidates. Nevertheless, Maine Republicans certainly aren't receiving the same amount of attention from the presidential candidates as South Carolina or Florida, the two states immediately preceding Maine's Republicans. So, if the country won't care about where Maine goes, at least Mainers will, right? Well, not exactly. And for that we can thank the ridiculous caucus system Maine political parties use to nominate their respective standard-bearers.

Most election days, the polls open early in the morning and close late in the evening. In between, voters of all political stripes bustle in the booths, usually spending about ten minutes of their day dealing with the ballot box. The voting process is simple and clear-cut: Check in with the poll workers, find a vacant voting booth, check your preferences, return the ballot, go on your merry way. The caucus system, however, requires voters to assemble at a particular place (usually only one location in a town or city), at a specific time, and for a relatively long duration. In fact, it is not uncommon for a caucus to last up to two hours. Moreover, a caucus is governed by arcane rules that force voters to react more like driven cattle than deciders of our next president. It is an undemocratic system in the sense that there are numerous barriers to participation. It is inconvenient, it doesn't allow for flexibility, and it is often attractive to only the die-hard politicos (only registered members of a political party are allowed to participate). In fact, the caucus system is demonstrably so undemocratic and inaccessible that, according to the folks at Hotline, only six percent of active registered voters in Iowa actually bothered to participate in the Democratic Caucuses for President in 2004. In other words, only 124,331 voters out of 1.9 million registered voters in Iowa were willing to endure the caucus system in a state swimming in campaign media and money. Moreover, it was a Democratic caucus in 2004, arguably the height of anti-Bush fervor. If a state caucus in that situation can attract only six percent of registered voters, it is time to scrap the system.

Maine, which is one of only about a dozen states who have caucuses, should adopt a primary system similar to that of our neighbor, New Hampshire. Voting booths (and the corresponding secret ballots, another luxury not afforded in the caucus system), long hours, and the ability for everyone (even independents) to vote should be the way life is on primary day here in Maine.

- John C.L. Morgan