Caucusing: Easy as pie?

Carrie Dann NBC/National Journal Reporter

DES MOINES, Iowa - On Thursday night, one passionate caucus-goer in Iowa leveled a devastating criticism against a candidate whom she characterized as a flip-flopping opportunist.

"Rhubarb doesn't know whether it's supposed to be sweet or sour!" she shouted over the din of more than 30 supporters of Barack Obama who packed into a tiny office in Knoxville, Iowa. "Vote for cherry pie!"

With the intricate proceedings of the Iowa caucuses only a month away, Democratic campaigns are looking for easy (and tasty) ways to educate their Iowa supporters on exactly what to expect on Jan. 3. Mock caucuses held at community centers and field offices across the state allow participants to mimic January's process without the politics.

For Team Obama, that means pie.

Thursday night's "candidates" -- in addition to the much-maligned rhubarb -- included cherry, blueberry, apple, pumpkin and pineapple-cherry pies lovingly baked by residents of Marion County, many of whom have never caucused before. As they arrived at the small office in Knoxville, Obama field organizer Maia Henry diligently posted signs for each pie in a corner of the crowded room, describing to each new arrival how to show support for their favorite baked good by gathering in areas around the office.

"If you're not viable," explained another staffer clad in the campaign's signature red "Fired Up!" t-shirt, "you might have to go to a different pie."

"We don't want to have to do that," he added gravely.

The practice round
Why do campaigns in Iowa have to make the caucus process more, well, appetizing? The notoriously complex rules of the Democratic nominating process in the state require some lighthearted practice to train the community leaders on whom campaigns rely to coalesce support in more than 1,700 precincts in the state. And the mere mathematics of the process require that winning campaigns be able to quickly calculate delegate percentages on the spot.

Interactive Analyzing the 2008 presidential field

Here's how it works: The state of Iowa is divided into 1,781 precincts, and each will have separate caucus meetings for Republicans and Democrats on Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m. CST. The meetings -- held in venues such as churches, high schools, community centers and even individuals' homes -- are technically intended to be the formal elections of delegates to county conventions held later in the year, which are eventually whittled down to candidate delegations sent to the national convention in August 2008.

The process for Republicans is relatively simple: attendees arrive and cast written ballots to select their choices in a straw poll.

But for Democrats, the process is much more complex.

On Jan. 3, after arriving at their caucus site, Iowa Democrats will be greeted with the reading of letters from each candidate who would like to deliver last-minute appeals for support. At each location, most campaigns will have precinct captains on-site who will use detailed lists of committed supporters to assemble their candidate's fan club in a corner of the room.

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