This is what it was like inside an Iowa caucus site


For those unfamiliar with the Iowa caucuses, one political reporter took to Twitter Monday night to give an inside look at what goes down inside the gyms, libraries, church halls, and fire stations across the state.
MSNBC's Alex Seitz-Wald visited the caucus site for Democratic Precinct 113, which saw a turnout of 192 people, with most saying they had caucused before. First, supporters of the candidates made their pitches — fans of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said it was time for change, while Hillary Clinton's backers spoke about the importance of beating the Republicans "across the hall," Seitz-Wald reports. When it came time to split into groups, just a handful came together for Martin O'Malley, and that's when Sanders and Clinton supporters moved in to try to get them into their camps.
A mistake was made by a Clinton supporter, Seitz-Wald reports — when they brought up Sanders' age, the O'Malley supporters rejected that as a reason not to back Sanders, and four of the five were lured to his side (the fifth person left). In the end, Sanders received five delegates, Clinton three, and O'Malley "supporters made no difference," Seitz-Wald said. The quote of the night went to one of those people, who mused: "Can you think of a stupider way to elect a president?"
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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