Sounds rigorous fer sure!

The Interested Participant notes that things are a tad "loose" in the Iowa Caucuses:

Dan Savage has an op-ed piece in the New York Times where he discusses the absolute lack of systematic control of who participates in the Iowa caucuses. He writes:

I was appalled when I learned that you didn't need a valid voter registration card or proof of residency - any identification at all - to take part in Iowa's caucuses. All you had to do was show up at a caucus site and fill out a voter registration card.

And, he describes his actual experience from the 2000 election.

So I went to a caucus site, gave the address of my hotel in Des Moines as my "residence" when I registered (no one asked how long I intended to reside in Iowa), and took part in the caucus. As it turned out, I didn't even need to register - when it came time to indicate whom we supported for president, slips of scrap paper were passed out to everyone in the room. There was nothing to stop someone who hadn't signed in, or even registered to vote, from grabbing a piece of paper and jotting down a name.

To determine if the requirements have changed since 2000, Savage contacted the Polk County Election Office in Des Moines and found that the process was the same as before.

You may recall Dan as the "doorknob licker" of the 2000 campaign. But not to worry - Official says caucuses still clean, despite tricks:

The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party worked to ease concerns Friday about the integrity of the Iowa caucuses...

Fischer, speaking in Johnston on Friday after the taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press," said all this year's Democratic presidential campaigns have pledged in writing to discourage non-Iowans from participating in the Jan. 19 caucuses.

Caucus participants will have to sign an affidavit reminding them of the criminal penalties if they misrepresent themselves.

Kewl! That ought to be really, really effective.

In addition, outsiders would stick out like sore thumbs, Fischer said.

Yeah? Exactly how do you separate the foreign Deanie babies from the local variety?