Northwest voters ask: When do we matter?

As the national presidential circus shifts this week from the snow-covered plains of Iowa to the snow-covered townships of New Hampshire, voters in the Inland Northwest might be asking “What about us? When will they care about us?”

The short answer is they won’t really care about us until February – if then.

The longer answer is that Washington and Idaho have selected times in the process that are earlier than ever before, but still behind the rush to the front of the line in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes.

Depending on the state and the party an Inland Northwest voter supports, he or she may be caucusing in early February or voting in a primary in mid-February or one in late May. And whenever they caucus or vote, it’s unlikely to generate the kind of attention afforded farmers in Iowa or mill workers in New Hampshire.

Part of the attention lavished on those two states comes from the tradition of being first for its respective process – caucuses in Iowa, presidential primaries in New Hampshire. Those traditions are backed by state laws and party policies that allow Iowa to move its caucuses as early as necessary to ensure they are first, and New Hampshire to shift its primaries to be second only to Iowa.

Although other states exhibit some degree of envy over the attention those two receive every four years, there’s not much the other 48 can do about being first. The scrum this year has been to be early enough to be important, which in 2008 came down to a decision of whether to take part in what is sometimes referred to as Super-duper Tuesday on Feb. 5.

Caucus or vote? Depends

On that day, 22 states, including Idaho, will start some piece of their presidential selection process. But each state is different, and Washington and Idaho are among the most eclectic in the way they pick nominees.

Idaho Democrats will hold county caucuses on the evening of Feb. 5 to start the process of selecting delegates pledged to presidential candidates. Idaho Republicans won’t; they’ll hold a presidential primary on May 27.

Washington’s Democrats and Republicans each will hold precinct caucuses Feb. 9 at 1 p.m., but in different locations and with different rules. Washington also will hold a presidential primary Feb. 19.

Confused? Don’t feel bad. Political experts all over the country are having trouble keeping track of all the changes, and some aspect of the process in Washington or Idaho is routinely listed incorrectly on most schedules of presidential events.

County caucuses

Idaho’s presidential primary is set by law for late May, to coincide with the state primary for other offices. The law allows the state to move it earlier, but despite some discussion over the years, the cost of holding two statewide primary elections – one for the presidential candidates, one for everyone else – has always weighed against that.

But the parties are free to hold caucuses, which are meetings of party members, and that’s a system Idaho Democrats have used for decades. Idaho differs from many caucus states, however, by having a single caucus in most counties, rather than breaking the meetings down into smaller districts like a voting precinct.

Participants at Idaho Democratic caucuses show their support for a presidential candidate during the meeting, and if that candidate has the support of at least 15 percent of those attending the caucus, supporters get a proportional share of delegates to the state convention. Supporters of candidates who don’t make that 15 percent threshold can switch to another candidate and the caucus leaders in each county report the final number of supporters for each presidential candidate to the state headquarters.

Presidential candidates receive a proportional share of Idaho’s 23 delegates based on the final statewide tally, provided they have at least 15 percent of the total.

A mixed bag

Washington, like Idaho, has a presidential primary set by law for May. But for most of its history, the primary has been scheduled earlier – if at all – by secretaries of state hoping to draw more attention to the West or Northwest. This year, a panel headed by Secretary of State Sam Reed scheduled the presidential primary for Feb. 19, or two weeks after Super-duper Tuesday. Their reasoning was that Washington couldn’t compete for candidates’ attention with states like California, New York and New Jersey holding contests Feb. 5. By waiting a few weeks, the field of candidates may be narrowed, but the ones who survive the big vote will be eager to win a contest elsewhere.

Before the primary was scheduled, state Democrats said they would not give up their tradition of picking their presidential delegates through a process that begins with the precinct caucuses. National party rules say people who select delegates must be Democrats, and with a state like Washington that does not have party registration and gives both party’s ballots to each voter, the results of the primary can’t be counted, state Chairman Dwight Pelz said.

Washington Republicans, who have used both primaries and caucuses in recent election cycles to select presidential delegates, offered to use the primary results as the basis for half their presidential delegates if the Democrats would do the same. Democrats said “no dice,” but Republicans stuck with the idea. They’ll award 19 of the 37 delegates up for grabs based on the primary results; the other 18 will come from the caucus process.

Both parties will start their precinct caucuses at 1 p.m. on Feb. 9, a Saturday. Until 2004, both parties held caucuses on a Tuesday evening; but four years ago, Washington Democrats moved theirs to Saturday and saw a huge jump in participation. They decided to try to build on their success, and Republicans followed that schedule this year rather than stick with a Tuesday.

Party variances

The caucus process is a little different for each party.

Democrats sign in and write down the candidate they support, or list themselves as uncommitted, at the start of the meeting. Caucus leaders tally the support for each candidate and announce how many delegates to the county convention each candidate or an uncommitted block would get from that precinct. The number of delegates varies from precinct to precinct.

Supporters of a candidate who doesn’t qualify for any delegates can switch to another candidate, and a final tally is taken. That determines the final division of delegates to the legislative district caucuses and the county convention, which is the next step in the process. Presidential candidates can gain or lose support as the process continues, depending on whether their supporters show up at each succeeding round of meetings.

Republicans don’t sign in for a candidate. Although many participants express their support for individual candidates, there’s no tally and delegates to the county convention can be elected on any combination of candidate support, opinions on key issues or party activity.

“They have to sell themselves,” not necessarily just their candidate, GOP State Chairman Luke Esser said.

County convention delegates elect state convention delegates, who elect national convention delegates. By then, the party’s nominee will likely be decided, and the delegates pledged to him, but they wouldn’t necessarily have started out backing that candidate.

Ten days after the precinct caucuses, Washington state will hold its primary. By then, some candidates on the ballot will have dropped out of the race, but the state will count and report all votes. Although Democrats will ignore the results, Republicans will divide 10 delegates among the winners based on the statewide totals, and one delegate to the overall winner in each of the state’s nine congressional districts.

The rules are complicated, but voters don’t need to know them backwards and forwards to participate. Most presidential campaigns will keep a close eye on the steps after the caucuses as long as their candidate is viable. If the race is close and either state’s delegates are important to clinching a nomination, candidates will pay attention to Washington and Idaho as the process continues.

If not, the campaigns essentially hit the “reset” button after the national convention and pay attention to states where the November election is close. That gives them another chance to care about this part of the country.