But let’s be clear here. I’ve got a BA in Political Science and a Master’s in Public Policy and I still get confused.

I’ve never worked in the system since I’m a civil servant and a political independent, so I often forget that the caucus didn’t mean anything, even though up to today we all pretended that it did. Teach it all you want, but when the media and the party all act like the nomination was the end all and be all, some of us get confused when we hear it is not.

Or is that Republic Party?

In any case, Arne was a pretty good gov.

Word.

IIRC, he beat Allen Quist in the 1990 Republican Primary after Quist won the endorsement.

They’ve all voted on American Idol. They pretty much know how it works.

Unlike party nominations for president, I don’t think the caucus system has a whole lot to with figuring out who gets to run for any other public office. A caucus can determine a preference but it’s non-binding. As was pointed out earlier, the party convention will nominate a candidate … but that doesn’t prevent someone else afterward from seeking the same office under the same party affiliation. The final party nominee is determined at the primary level in September, at which point a candidate (e.g. Democrat/US Senate) wishing to run who doesn’t have the primary victory will have to run as an independent. (Didn’t Arne Carlson run as an Independent once when he lost a gubernatorial primary?)

Then again, voters are always free to write-in the name of anyone (or anything) they wish when they cast their ballots.

It’s too bad civics isn’t taught at the secondary school level anymore. I’m guessing this upcoming election is bringing out a lot of new voters who don’t understand what they’re really doing?

The caption read: “Not even a card.”