Hillary Clinton has a cheeky new web video up--complete with Bill eating a cheeseburger and Hillary singing the national anthem badly off-key--which extols the fun and ease of caucusing. ("You don't have to be registered. Or even be a Democrat," it advises. One Hillary supporter even assures viewers that "It's usually over early enough to get back to your favorite TV show.")
Okay, but isn't it in Hillary's self-interest to making caucusing sound arduous and boring? After all, the likeliest scenario for her to suffer a humiliating defeat in Iowa involves Barack Obama turning out throngs of first-time caucus-goers, especially including high school and college students. Hillary's strength lies with older voters who may already have caucused or at least probably know how the system works. In purely cynical terms, I would think the better video for Hillary would be titled something like, "Caucusing Is for Grumpy Old People Who've Done It Before and it Takes Forever and No Text Messaging Allowed"....
--Michael Crowley