Votes in the caucuses will determine which candidate wins the support of Idaho's delegates to the 2008 Democratic convention.
Republicans will choose delegates in the May 27 primary election.
Who can participate?
Anyone who qualifies to vote in the November election. You do
not have to be a registered voter, and you don't need to sign up in advance. At the door, you will be required to sign a form stating you are a Democrat, but official party membership isn't required.
Where are the caucuses in Treasure Valley counties?
Ada: Qwest Arena, 233 S. Capitol Blvd., Boise
Canyon: Nampa Civic Center, 311 3rd St.
Elmore: Mountain Home Senior Citizens Center, 1000 N. 3rd East
Boise: Senior Center, Middlefork Road, Crouch
Gem: Emmett Junior High School cafeteria, 301 E. 4th St.
When are the caucuses, and how long do they last?
7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. Doors will close at that time, so arrive early. In Ada County, the Democratic Party suggests signing in at least an hour early. (Doors at Qwest Arena will open at 5 p.m.) A small county caucus may last 2-3 hours. Ada County's could last at least 4 hours.
How does the caucus process work?
Voters sign in and indicate their choice for the Democratic presidential nominee on a ballot.
At 7 p.m., there will be a roll call. When your name is called,
state your presidential nominee.
After the roll call, everyone will split into groups by nominee.
Supporters of the different candidates will make speeches and try to persuade the undecided voters into their camp.
After the speeches, voters may choose another candidate.
Any candidate with 15 percent or more voter support will be
allotted delegates. Candidates that don't have at least 15 percent voter support will not be allotted any delegates.
The Idaho Republican primary has been in the news as debate swirls around whether the May 27 primary ought to be open or closed. Meanwhile, the Idaho Democrats hold their caucus on Feb. 5, in meetings held throughout the state. Feb. 5 is Super Tuesday, when 23 states will hold primaries and caucuses.
What is the influence of Idaho in the presidential election? Not much. Idaho has four electoral votes. There are 538 electoral votes nationwide. In fact, the intermountain states of Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, (all the Western states except California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii) have a total of 47 electoral votes. This is one reason why Nevada moved up its primary date in order to gain more attention from presidential candidates. But generally, it is not very likely that our part of the American West has been much thought about by those seeking to lead the nation. If this lack of attention wasn't enough, not one presidential or vice-presidential debate (there are four) will occur west of St. Louis. If one adds the two "back-up" sites, four are in the South, one in Missouri and one in New York.
Concerns over lack of a Western voice have led some, like Daniel Kemmis of the O'Connor Center of the American West at the University of Montana, to call for a set of Western primaries and caucuses to be held one specific day during the primary season. This call echoes a similar call from Western governors 10 years earlier, using March 10 as the date for the common election. This has not happened. It has not happened because state legislatures have not acted to coordinate primary and caucus dates. Instead, we really do not know very much about where the candidates stand on issues of water and drought, fire, growth, our public lands, and the West as America's "energy basket," for example. I would not be surprised if some of those candidates are relatively unaware of these issues. Why should they be? The only positive news is that these issues are getting some last-minute attention in the Western states associated with the Feb. 5. This includes Sen. Barack Obama's visit to Idaho.
Where the West does gain some clout is in the U.S. Senate, where those same states elect 18 senators; with seniority, those senators can often act effectively on Western issues. The West can also be represented in the president's Cabinet, often through the Department of Interior. As for Idaho, former Governors Cecil Andrus and Dirk Kempthorne have served as secretaries of interior. Idahoan Bruce Reed served as President's Clinton domestic policy adviser.
Where does this leave the West and the issues of concern to the region during this election cycle? Rapid population growth relative to the rest of the country eventually will bring more electoral votes, but this is hardly a solution. We could theoretically amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish the Electoral College but I'm not sure that would give the rural parts of the West much solace, as the election would be fought out in large media markets and through targeted demographic blocks of voters. Urban interests might fare better. Our long and tortuous primary and caucus season has evolved from the premise that the choice of electing the president should be given more to the people and less to the party bosses and would also be hard to change The regional primary might help, but that requires a movement that has yet to catch on. It appears that the West will get attention only after the election.
John Freemuth is a professor of public policy at Boise State University, a senior fellow with the Andrus Center for Public Policy, director of the Energy Policy Institute and a 2001 Carnegie Professor of the Year for Idaho.
