Rushing is an elected deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, a founding member of Episcopal Urban Caucus , and serves on the board of the Episcopal Women's Caucus and the Episcopal network for Economic Justice.In addition to being a local politician, he is also a phenomenal historian.
in caucuses turned out, we would have gotten clobbered. Caucuses were where we had to expand the electorate. Now, because turn out had been so low, you had a greater ability to expand the electorate, because in a primary, you can only go from,let's say, here to here. And caucus you go from here to here.
and so they'll go and they'll do this kind of thing well especially in uh Eastern Europe and the Balkans and the caucuses in the late '90s early 2000s there was this whole set of reallyconsequential elections in Serbia uh in Georgia in kyrgistan uh in a number of
I can tell you in every state where there were caucuses -- our initial polling, we were getting clobbered. And had the people who normally turned out in caucuses turned out, we would have gotten clobbered. Caucuses were where we had to expand the electorate. Now, because turn out had been so low, you had a greater ability to expand the electorate, because in a primary, you can only go from,
air these types of first coming talking about John Lewis and loving him They love Way were filmed that so sorry. We filmed the the swearing in of the Black Caucus , and it is a record breaking black caucus . 55 members for the first time. And Sheila Jackson Lee on that historic occasion said to Mr Lewis, which we picked up on the make, you need Thio know what
I'm a staff attorney in the Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian Law Caucus . The Asian Law Caucus is the civil rights organization in San Francisco. We've been around since 1972.
the the former Congressional Black Caucus executive director, the CEO of Impact Strategies, and NPR and CNN political commentator, Angela Ry.
discovered there was really a dearth of african-american women at that same level you can find them in City Council's you can find some of them in the Congressional Black Caucus but they the ones in the Congressional Black Caucus we're mostly 60 years old and older and the ones at the lower levels were kind of not there wouldn't they were not there in large numbers I discovered it an interesting commonality here which is that the
new administration and the title of my book the tyranny of oil actually comes from the Iowa caucus when Senator Obama received the 11 the Iowa caucus and gave his acceptance speech and in that speech
know I called up a friend in California and said we need you guys to make phone calls we're in Texas we're organizing for the caucus and in one weekend they can make a 100,000 phone calls because they knew how to use the voter file which was the same one that we had used same same um interface so I left a group of people a lot of people in California
Q Just wondering how the campaign tactics differ between a caucus state and a non-caucus state? David Plouffe: Difference between caucus and non-caucus state. Well, very different. Obviously, caucuses historically have lower turn out. How many of you have been to a caucus ?
Wow. What state? Q I was a volunteer down at Texas. David Plouffe: Texas caucus . Well, caucus basically in most states, you've got to show up at one time -- so 6:30, 7:00. You separate into groups -- publicly -- so your neighbors are there. And you go in the corner.
not having the kind of time that they once did to go back and really excavate what happened as things occurred. So you have events that take place, whether it's Barack Obama winning the Iowa caucuses , or John McCain putting Sarah Palin on the ticket. People are fascinated and obsessed with those topics for a few moments and reporters really fixate on them for 48 hours and then the circus moves on and they have to move on with it. And so big questions; by big questions, I don't mean big philosophical questions. I mean, just fundamental questions
I will have it organized." It's an enormous amount of responsibility for a volunteer. And so, it's very different. I happen to think caucuses are wonderful, because I believe in grassroots politics. I think it made us a stronger campaign in the general, because we were so organized.
Reality is what is happening on the ground throughout the country. difference in the caucuses . Yes.
Bennett, right? Sure. That's a great example to me. I mean um Diana get to get went down. She's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus . But, you know, and I I don't I don't say any of this to um diminish. I just want to be clear about what we're talking
But there were also very strategic. And one part of the Congressional Black Caucus was the Health Braintrust, where the congressional leaders, Black Caucus leaders were interested in strategizing on policy and, again, moving things forward.
You might see sometimes in the news, like, oh, that's just a surprise. We had a women's caucus that was bipartisan that really worked very, very well together.
am not permitted to make any uh partisan remarks or comments I can vote but only if it's not a caucus where Democrats go in this door and Republicans go in this door uh I cannot fund raise and I'm not supposed to comment in any way on uh candidates that would favor one or
And other things harder to see, but no less vital in supporting the order of everyday life changed beyond recognition-- ways and means in Washington caucus rooms, taboos on New York trading desks, manners and morals everywhere. When the norms that made the old institutions useful began to unwind, and the leaders abandoned their posts, the
And other things harder to see but no less vital in supporting the order of everyday life changed beyond recognition-- ways and means in Washington caucus rooms, taboos on New York trading desks, manners and morals everywhere. When the norms that made the old institutions useful began to unwind and the leaders abandoned their posts, the Roosevelt republic that had reined for almost half a
from the Iowa caucus when Senator Obama received the 11 the Iowa caucus and gave his acceptance speech and in that speech he said I will be the president who once and for all ends the tyranny of oil and
throughout the general election and I just add quickly that um you know on super Tuesday one of the reasons why we were so successful in the caucus States was um we had folks who were literally organizing themselves for a year um you know the day that uh Barack obama.com uh
They're talking to their caucuses to show how they're strong leaders, and they want to get reelected speakers, et cetera.
tell us otherwise, had been someone who could have easily been President of the United States. Had he won the Iowa caucuses where he came in second. He could have been a very plausible Democratic nominee and therefore President. He'd also obviously been the Vice Presidential candidate in 2004, someone who came very close to occupying at least the old executive office
lesson and one of the questions again, I think it's an open question, his attitude has been He had come out of the Iowa caucuses with a gold halo and nobody expected Hillary Clinton to take that particular primary. What do you think actually happened there?
the last year um you know basically uh the left has been taking out CPC congressional progressive caucus members. I mean, the Abdul Alid Ree in the Haley Stevens race is is the first time we're like have an
know, the Congressional Black Caucus has been one of the Democratic establishment's staunchest allies, and we're seeing some generational changes
But I'm Co-Chair of the Rural Health Caucus , so I go all around rural Minnesota.
to the lab to identify the origins of uh the eneral caucus genus of bacteria and
with this extra investment as in the case of the caucus who also are an unusually pair bonded uh mamalian uh
I became a fellow with the Congressional Black Caucus foundation.
not following Franken regulations um this was about half of our caucus the
basic information. It needed to be very easy for them to find out where to participate. And one thing we did in Iowa, and then it worked -- and we did it in every primary and caucus , and Hillary Clinton did not. And then, we did in the general election; John McCain did not -- was, we did a lot of advertising just so that it would be easy for people to find out where to participate.
And don't be shy. Yes, sir. Q Just wondering how the campaign tactics differ between a caucus state and a non-caucus state? David Plouffe: Difference between caucus and non-caucus state.
And then, it's organizing. I mean, you've got to be on people -- like white on rice, all the way through -- to make sure they go. And we did a lot of demystifying of the caucus for people. We put out videos. We did trainings to say, "It's not as bad as you think. Just show up and everything will be okay."
Like, Iowa caucuses could change that simple party rule.
You've got to suck up to your caucuses when you're a leader.
Now, there became a mythology that caucuses were our territory and primaries were hers. I can tell you in every state where there were caucuses -- our initial polling, we were getting clobbered. And had the people who normally turned out in caucuses turned out, we would have gotten clobbered.
But we were able to get through to her, and she finally said, OK, we'll do it. But John, the Congressional Black Caucus , and myself, we decided to do it in legislation so that it would have the authority and the permanency that it needed. And so we did that, and we got-- but just getting to-- we put it on the suspension calendar,
So I often used to say that I took my office, my little office practice in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and took it to a national stage. And I'm very fortunate to be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus , because without them, a person who is a delegate from a little dot in the ocean that most people can't find to be given a national voice was really attributed to the Congressional Black Caucus .
You might see sometimes in the news, like, oh, that's just a surprise. So what we did was, as a tri-caucus , come together and develop some benchmarks and insist that health equity had to be addressed in the ACA.
My name is Anoop Prasad. I'm a staff attorney in the Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian Law Caucus . The Asian Law Caucus is the civil rights organization in San Francisco.
You've seen people negotiate that tension and find a way to build coalitions and come together. So storytelling is something that's really important for us at the Asian Law Caucus and telling our client stories, and we're always-- you know, we talk to thousands and thousands of people every month, right?
And fourth, his members of his Democratic caucus ,
I think we had Rick Santorum with a 3% chance of winning the Iowa caucus at one point before his surge, or a 2%
lesson and one of the questions again, I think it's an open question, his attitude has been him to take the Democratic nomination having only had to succeed in one caucus and one primary, I think struck people in a very conscious way as being a problem. If you look at the
Our media chases these people around Iowa for months in advance of the Iowa caucuses every four years.
We tried to change our consumer base. And that wasn't just an idea, it was a necessity for us. We simply would not have won the Democratic primary had the people who always came out to vote in primaries and caucuses done so. We had to make it younger and more diverse and had to get independents and Republicans to participate. And it was a really, really hard thing to
We had to make it younger and more diverse and had to get independents and Republicans to participate. And it was a really, really hard thing to do. And we won the Iowa caucuses , which takes up a big part of the book -- almost entirely based on expansion of the electorate, you know? People over 65 had historically turned out at twice the rate of people under 30 in Iowa caucuses every time it had been held.