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

This is not — so far — what the FiveThirtyEight newsroom is drinking, but maybe we should reconsider?

Just an update that Trump is at 97 percent in the GOP caucuses with more than half of precincts reporting. It’s unusual for a party with an essentially unopposed nominee — sorry, Bill Weld and Joe Walsh — to hold caucuses. But the Republican Party of Iowa is worried about Iowa’s place in the process, as no eventual GOP nominee has won the state since George W. Bush in 2000, so holding a perfunctory vote for Trump was seen as a good way to help maintain Iowa’s spot.

Finally, a huge round of applause for Warren’s representative as well. Her caucus leader is much more soft-spoken than Sanders’s, but the supporters are still energized, murmuring “yes” and waving their signs as she talks about Warren’s “unifying, progressive, pragmatic pitch.” It’s hard to imagine these little speeches actually changing people’s minds, but they definitely show where there’s the most support in the room.