Daily Kos Elections Nevada Republican caucus open thread #2
Nevada Republicans are holding their presidential caucuses tonight (the Democrats held theirs Saturday), and this is the place to discuss the results. Depending on the county and precinct, individual caucuses can begin anywhere from 8 to 10 PM ET.
Results: AP (statewide) | AP (by county) | NYT | Politico
It’s now three hours since caucuses have begun, but we haven't yet seen a single precinct report in. And who knows if they ever will—or if we’ll be able to trust any of the result at all? Multiple reporters on Twitter are all saying the same thing: It's a serious cluster out there. Here’s a sampling:
An important caveat: There were early reports of some chaotic conditions during Saturday’s Democratic caucuses, too, but almost everything seemed to get resolved as the day went on. So it’s possible the GOP’s mess will resolve itself. But reports of problems do seem to be widespread. Note that the next couple of tweets come from someone with the National Review:
That last claim about folks wearing Trump swag while running caucus operations looks to be confirmed in photos like this one and this one.
What sets this apart from the Democratic caucuses is stuff like this:
“Not the entire place was in chaos, just a select few." Okayyyyy. The NV GOP also claims that it's totally cool if precinct organizers are decked out in their finest campaign finery. Democracy!
So who benefits from this chaos? Marco Rubio, of course. Everything is a win for Marco Rubio, according to the Beltway press. But there’s a further angle here, one that goes beyond mere Rubio fluffery: If Donald Trump comes away with a win tonight, anything that casts doubt on the results undermines that victory … and helps Rubio, naturally.
Probably the wisest commentary on the whole mess, though, goes to Molly Ball: