Some people, it seems, just don’t appreciate the vital and utterly appropriate role Iowans play in deciding who will lead the United States of America for the next four years. These sourpusses seem to think that there is something deeply wrong about the fact that the collective wisdom of maybe 150,000 people (if turnout is high!) will decide whether Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards lopes or limps or collapses on his or her way to New Hampshire and the rest of the primaries. The number is much lower for Republicans — under 100,000. In a country of 300 million. What, I ask, is wrong with that?
Another reason to dislike the caucuses: we can’t spend the whole day of the vote calling and emailing and texting each other to find out the latest (deeply flawed) exit poll numbers. Instead, we have to sit around and wait until Iowans finish their dinners and trudge to their local church basement or middle school gymnasium, where, after milling around for a while, they’ll declare their presidential preference. We won’t have any results until something like 9 pm EST for the Republicans, 10 or 11 pm for the Democrats. And then the results we do get will be accurate! I mean, where’s the fun in that?