What Did — And Didn’t — Go Down In The Iowa Caucuses

To build on Dan’s point, the whole primary season is an interesting reminder that as much as politics has nationalized — check out this awesome book on the subject — federalism is still really powerful and states really do compete for influence in the sequential primary process.

In the midst of everything else going on in the FiveThirtyEight offices tonight, Clare and Galen chatted about that unreleased Des Moines Register poll:

One thing to note about this year’s caucuses is that the realignment process doesn’t permit people who are already backing a viable candidate to move. In years past, you could’ve moved, even if you already backed someone who was viable. And if you’re uncommitted and the uncommitted group is viable, you’ll have to stay there.