John Deeth

"Meyer, and others who take the Defy The DNC stance, are not leading. They are giving party activists who are worried about the post-First future false hope that the glory days are coming back. Going rogue will not get us back the perks and privileges of First In The Nation..."

One of my goals was reached in the 2025 session when Rep. Dave Jacoby introduced the first ever Iowa presidential primary bill. A good start but we need every Democrat as a co-sponsor next year. End

Iowa Democratic caucus a limited success—but much work remains John Deeth: What did we learn from the Iowa Democratic Party's first attempt at a party-run primary, and how can we make it better?

In March 2024 I reviewed IDP's first mail in presidential primary and offered suggestions for improvement. It's likely 2028 will follow a similar template. www.bleedingheartland.com/2024/03/07/i...

How Iowa Democrats can follow state law and DNC rules John Deeth: Iowa law does not require any presidential selection process at a party's precinct caucuses. Republicans have not always done so.

In late 2022 I suggested an in person caucus for party business only, and a party run primary for presidential preference. After months of delay, IDP adopted essentially this plan. www.bleedingheartland.com/2022/12/10/h...

Iowa Democratic Caucuses On this edition of Iowa Press, Rep. Ras Smith (D - Waterloo) and John Deeth, a Democratic activist from Iowa City, discuss potential changes to the Iowa Democratic Caucuses and where Iowa may end up o...

To my shock people started listening to me, and in May 2022 I was actually invited to discuss the caucuses on Iowa Press www.iowapbs.org/shows/iowapr...

Fixing The Caucuses, Part 5: Friendly (?) Advice Because I'm openly in favor of ending the caucuses and going to a primary, even if it costs Iowa First, I've been persona non grata at Iowa ...

I made some suggestions in the summer of 2021. Some were acted on, others were not jdeeth.blogspot.com/2021/07/fixi...

Fixing The Caucuses, Part 4: The Apportionment Problem Iowa Democratic caucuses defenders, which I used to be, will argue that the caucuses are a representative democracy, much like the House of ...

The delegate apportionment formula also punishes high turnout strong Democratic counties jdeeth.blogspot.com/2021/07/fixi...

Fixing The Caucuses, Part 3: The Crowd Crisis Defenders of the caucuses have for decades argued that an in-person meeting is a great organizing opportunity for local parties.  Maybe it u...

The biggest and least fixable problem: Severe overcrowding in the most Democratic precincts. There simply aren't enough large rooms to hold everyone who wants to attend. jdeeth.blogspot.com/2021/07/fixi...

Fixing The Caucuses, Part 2: The Access Problem Voting rights are a critical civil rights issue in the post (?) - Trump era. Election law has increasingly become a partisan fight in the tw...

Next up: the problem of accessibility for anyone who for whatever reason can't attend an in person caucus: jdeeth.blogspot.com/2021/07/fixi... (Note: IDP had a party run mail in process in 2024)

Fixing The Caucuses, Part 1: "The Caucuses" vs. "First" Time to get the beret out of mothballs, dust off the old blog, and settle in for some longer discussion. As those of you who follow me on my...

First off: The difference between "First," which is what most Iowans mean when they say "the caucuses," and the actual caucus night process. jdeeth.blogspot.com/2021/07/fixi...

Most of this is from summer 2021 but the fundamentals haven't changed much. If you really want to know why I so strongly favor a primary, grab a caffeinated beverage and join me deep in the weeds.

For those who don't know: I've worked on organizing caucus night since the 2004 cycle, and I've managed the whole caucus operation for Johnson County (the bluest in the state) since the 2016 cycle.

In light of DNC developments (Scott Brennan losing seat on calendar committee) I'm re-upping my most detailed pieces on the problems with Iowa's traditional caucus system and why we need to change to a real presidential primary.

In the summer of 2023, I honestly believed, or wanted very badly to believe, that Joe Biden was still that man. I'm responsible for that.

One of our nation's great tragedies is that Joe Biden did not get his opportunity to serve as President until it was too late. 😢

For 8 years I felt deeply reassured that, God forbid, anything should happen to President Obama, Vice President Biden was ready to take over on Day One.

In the fall of 2020 I thought Biden's goodness & decency were the perfect antidote to the vile years of Trump.

In the summer of 2007 I was professionally blogging & Joe Biden was an asterisk in the polls. I watched him at Iowa City's Ped Mall & Hamburg Inn taking all questions from all comers for 2 ½ hours straight. He could give a 10 minute answer full of detail and nuance on any subject.

Iowa Democrats do not deserve to be considered as an early state until we have a real government run primary and until we win some elections. And if we do as one of the old timers suggests and defy the DNC, we should be thrown out of the convention (like New Hampshire should have been in 2024)

If ABC had bothered to ask literally ANYONE else they would have learned that many Iowa Democrats have had it with Stand In A Corner 3 Hours To Vote and want a real presidential primary - no matter when in the calendar that falls. There was even a bill introduced this year.

Before naming 2028 nominee, Democrats have to decide which state will weigh in first Democrats will pick their next presidential nominee in 2028, but before that happens, the party will have to decide which state gets to go first on the nominating calendar

Give you one guess which two old school caucus apologists from the literal Rolodex get quoted here.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/wir...

(Rare use of the eggplant emoji to represent actual eggplant 😆)

Not really big enough for the title Smallest Farm, but that's its name and it's ours 🍅🦪🫑🍆🎃

Find the Pope in the pizza Portion of Father Guido Sarducci SNL skit from 1979.

In memory of Francis, one of the all time classics

vimeo.com/140059003

Supervisor Districts: The Numbers Don't Add Up UPDATED APRIL 2025: With districts now a reality for Johnson County, this interview with my good friend, New Jersey redistricting consultant...

Re-up of a 2013 Deeth Blog post on supervisor districts, with an update of census numbers. New Jersey redistricting consultant Jerry Mandering says "You can't draw the donut."

jdeeth.blogspot.com/2013/02/supe...

I'm Actually Autistic.

I have a job, a good one that I love.

I pay taxes.

Had a few dates before I was married.

Have done a lot of writing, more news and opinion than poetry.

I can use the bathroom by myself, at least for now, but that may be TMI.

But I can't play baseball. ⚾

YouTube video by MidnightOilVEVO Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart (Official Video)

I've struggled a lot in recent months with my 40 year journey from the Clash left to the partisan mainstream, wondering what Joe Strummer would say.

Then yesterday I considered Peter Garrett who went from Midnight Oil ("Don't serve your country, don't serve your king") to the Australian cabinet.

Campaign Almanac: Johnson County Democrat announces campaign for U.S. House seat Also, campaign fundraising reports for the first three months of the year show Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks raised $1 million in preparation for a re-election bid.

The яaised fist logo isn't EXACTLY the flavor I was looking for… but 1st CD Dems need to accept the reality that "law professor from Iowa City for the 3rd time" is not a winning bio in the rural & river counties. Lots of questions for both of them and anyone else.

www.thegazette.com/campaigns-el...

Well, obviously the number was non-random. But: putting two dozen counties through the work and expense of a recount so that you can have a talking point for the next election isn't right either.

I really hope we have a Democratic primary in IA01 next year.

(For the record I had no role in the 2024 recount; I was out of the office dealing with my mother's final illness.)

It's also possible that - maybe, just maybe - a recount could be motivated by the desire to use "recount close margin!" as a fundraising talking point for a potential rematch race a couple years down the road.

We had others that were delaying tactics (2005 North Liberty mayor, where the seat was vacant so the winner would take office immediately) or sore losers sending a message that they were REALLY mad they lost (the 2008 conservation bond recount was about "the students voted to raise our taxes.")