This morning's New York Times begs your pardon for an error in yesterday's editorial that said no winner of a contested caucus had ever gone on to win the White House. Turns out Dubya did, in 2000. We know the Times is rabidly anticipating the end of the Bush administration, but how hard is it to look up what happened the election before last? Admittedly, this whole "caucus" concept is a toughie. Yesterday, two of the most popular searches on Google, according to Room 8 founder Gur Tsabar, were "Iowa caucasus" and "caucasus," neither of which look quite right. A Caucasus isn't so much an agonizing exercise in televised self-government as a Russian mountain range. God Bless America.

Really the best way to sum up how a caucus works is to consult Lewis Carroll on the subject:

There was no `One, two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out `The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, `But who has won?' At last the Dodo said, `EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.'