'Assault' on the caucuses - UPDATED

I guess I may have spoken too soon on this protecting the caucuses business. From BuzzFeed:

TAMPA - The Republican party is on the brink of dealing a major blow to Iowa's traditional caucus system, with the process' critics pointing to recent battles over military voting rights to make the case for ending traditional nominating contest.

Chris Brown, Chairman of the Young Republican Federation of Alabama and a member of the Republican Convention's Rules Committee, is expected introduce a measure tomorrow requiring states to use "every means practicable" to ensure that military voters can cast ballots in any process used in the Republican presidential nominating process, according to a person involved in the effort. The measure will be seconded by influential Ohio GOP chair Bob Bennett, who has been a member of the RNC for more than two decades, the source said.

Obviously the caucuses, as a one-night, in-person event could run afoul of such a rule. Here's the text of it:

Proposed Change to Rule 15(c)7

Any process authorized or implemented by a state Republican Party for selecting delegates and alternate delegates or for binding the presidential preference of such delegates shall use every means practicable to guarantee the right of active duty military personnel, and individuals unable to attend meetings due to injuries suffered in military service the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in that process.

Craig Robinson at The Iowa Republicans smells loopholes:

The phrase, “shall use every means practicable” is not as forceful as a simple compulsory statement such as “must” or “shall.” This means this rule would be up to much interpretation. Who decides what is “practicable”? What if there isn't a “practicable” way to accomplish this? This rule could be interpreted to have no teeth whatsoever, in which case, it is simply a political ploy to make caucus states look bad by voting against something that is perceived to be pro-military.

He also notes that this would have an impact on many other states, not just Iowa. Although, thanks to Iowa's high-profile caucus problems, we clearly become the poster state. Craig's an expert on this stuff, so read his post.

This is one facet of what I think is the most powerful argument wielded against the caucuses from both sides of the political spectrum, and that's the inability of folks who want to participate, but can't because they simply can't be present. Military folks, night-shift workers, elderly people who can't get around, etc. There's been talk of Saturday caucuses and even absentee ballots to address this, but the absentee idea always runs unto the reality that it's tough to run a delegate selection process by remote control.

It's also tough to argue that people serving their country, or wounded while serving, should be left out. So this is a development to watch.

 UPDATE -- Sounds like Iowa was able to hold off the "assault." The Register of Des Moines reports that the new rule was amended to exempt events that require people to be present to participate, such as caucuses.

But now Iowa Republicans face an RNC effort to require binding delegates to the actual voting results of the caucuses, so that winning is meaningful beyond caucus night, and a candidate who finished third doesn't end up with most of the delegates. Kathie Obradovich explains that here.