The Iowa caucus was an unmitigated disaster. Someone’s gotta take the blame for what happened. Bernie Sanders? Russians? No, according to New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose, the real culprits behind last night’s cluster are … Boomers.
Polling sites aren't ready for tech. Neither are their workers, says @kevinroose. "The people who work at them are volunteers, and many are — how can I put this delicately? — members of the generation that still refers to the TV remote as 'the clicker.'"https://t.co/7cABhpVdu5
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) February 4, 2020
Roose writes:
It’s enough to make you wonder: Have these party officials ever been to a polling site or a caucus venue? They are not pristine WeWorks with blazing fast internet connections and an army of Geek Squad workers on call. They are mostly high school gyms, nursing homes and church basements with cinder-block walls and horrible cellphone service. The people who work at them are volunteers, and many are — how can I put this delicately? — members of the generation that still refers to the TV remote as “the clicker.”
Using a proprietary app to report vote totals is the kind of thing that sounds simple on a start-up’s whiteboard, but utterly falls apart in a chaotic real-world environment, where connections drop, phones malfunction and poorly tested apps strain under a surge of traffic. Add an army of frenzied poll workers, impatient voters and twitchy news media, and you might as well have asked the caucus workers to whip up their own JavaScript.
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I'm not sure "OK Boomer" is the most productive way to approach last night's events. https://t.co/nZyOjQ7ojf
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) February 4, 2020
It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them!
So patronizing
— OriginalGriffon (@OriginalGriffon) February 4, 2020
They aren't the ones who invented it.
— Slygrammy5 ?????? (@SharonCoryell3) February 4, 2020
You're really going to sneer at the people who've managed to do this for decades? It's not their fault.
— It's still 2016 apparently (@jtLOL) February 4, 2020
I'm a tech guy and almost 60 years old. I still call it a clicker. Don't blame it on "old" people. Blame it on untested technology.
— Zombie John Gotti (@ZombieJohnGotti) February 4, 2020
Yeah, absolutely … go ahead and float the "it's the Boomer Iowan rubes' fault" explanation for an utter failure on the part of Iowa's Democratic party and whoever they hired to develop and implement the app. Throwing poll volunteers under the bus is a great look.
— Shelley Breaud (@ShelleyBreaud) February 4, 2020
Dems: The app was bad, there was little testing or training, and it failed to do what it shouldve done
NYT: Lets blame “the olds”
— Analysis Africa (@analysis_africa) February 4, 2020
Also, the app was broken.
But sure, sneer at the olds. https://t.co/fInZWW7AlM
— RBe (@RBPundit) February 4, 2020
Ah yes, the app worked fine, it was the volunteers and caucus-goers who screwed up. https://t.co/LxdvPwsPPk
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 4, 2020
Even Ben Smith is objecting:
I'm usually on the other side but it's really outrageous to blame older, diligent people who handled this for years then got handed a bunch of confusing rules and bad tech by young people! https://t.co/qSCm0f36jz
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) February 4, 2020
Hey, when he’s right, he’s right.
The New York Times blaming the Iowa simpletons instead of the brilliant application developers in the DNC is just perfect. It's perfection.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 4, 2020
Keep stoking…. dont think it’s hot enough yet ?? pic.twitter.com/JrdsbB5tnW
— I’m your Huckleberry (@MrDMummery) February 4, 2020
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