A history of caucusing in Minnesota

The historically high turnout at Tuesday night's political caucuses in Minnesota was both inspiring and frustrating for caucus-goers.

Packed parking lots, long lines, and inadequate supplies has a lot of people asking why Minnesota parties use evening caucuses instead of day-long primaries during presidential election years.

An editorial in Wednesday's Star Tribune called for party primaries in future presidential contests.

This debate reminds historian Hy Berman of the 1950s, when both the Republican and DFL parties experimented with primaries, with disasterous results.

Berman is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Minnesota, and he spoke with MPR's Tom Crann.