"As you read this, ," writes Paul Waldman, "some of the most important and powerful people in America are crawling through the Hawkeye State on their knees, pretending to know more than they do about corn, pretending that the deep fried Twinkie they had back at the state fair was just dee-licious, pretending that ethanol is the key to our energy future, and pretending that every precinct captain and PTA chair they meet is the very heart and soul of our nation, whose opinions the candidate is just dying to hear. And the good people of Iowa? They couldn't give a rat's ass."
It's true. And Waldman's got the goods. That much-vaunted Iowa voter, the one we're constantly told is "so concerned about the issues, so involved in the political process, so serious about their solemn deliberative responsibilities as guardians of the first-in-the-nation contest?" He's probably not coming out to the polls. Nor are between 90% and 94% of his neighbors. Indeed, there's just about no redeeming feature to the Iowa caucuses. Iowans know barely more about the candidates than citizens of other states, aren't more civically engaged than anyone else, are 95% white, and use a caucus system doesn't make any sense. Yet 200,000 Iowans, using a voting procedure that nobody understands, will probably decide who the next 300,000,000 of us get to vote for.
This isn't entirely the fault of the Iowans. In some ways, its the media's fault, for the bounce they give the winning candidate. In some ways, it's the system's fault, where the compression of the primaries ensures no one has time to serious evaluate Iowa's decision. In some ways, it's our fault, as we shouldn't be such sheep. But no matter who's fault it is, it doesn't make sense. Kudos to Waldman for saying so.
Update: This comment to Waldman's article is, however, sort of funny:
After taking part in the "Perfect Storm" weekend four years ago, I have no respect for the Iowa caucuses. First, I think it's a ridiculous, flawed process for selecting a nominee, and second, I found the people to be very ungrateful for the attention being paid to them.
