Iowa Doesn't Represent Me

Tonight we'll have the Iowa Caucuses, one of the traditional first primaries of our country's "silly season," officially known as the campaign for President of the United States.

And what the hell is a caucus?

Well, it's a bastard cross between a fireside chat at a college dorm, a moderated debate, a football huddle and a game of musical chairs. The process excludes many, because you must caucus in person. So that means, no soldiers serving overseas, no residents out of state, and no one, say injured, and unable to get to a designated location, can caucus. The mechanics are not very important, but the results allegedly are.

Ever since I got involved with politics -- at the age of 12 -- I wondered how Iowa could be so influential in the process of selecting the person that would lead this nation for at least four, and as many as eight, years. I certainly don't want to minimize the public's willingness to participate in the election of the next president -- Lord knows we need more of that.

But let's do some quick math: Iowa has about 1% of the total U.S. population. Of those, in the last cycle, only about 7% of eligible Iowa voters caucused. That means in '04, approximately 124,000 caucus-goers talked about their candidates.

This year, the turnout will surely be higher, estimated to be about 10%, in part because many people are thoroughly disgusted by the monkey -- no offense to monkeys -- in the White House and want to express their displeasure, in part by caucusing.

But still, to kick off the most important election in the history of the United States, something less than 300,000 people will set the agenda -- at least for several weeks -- for the remainder of the nation.

Here's my beef: this nation is highly urban. Something like 25 million people live within the city limits of the nation's ten largest cities, just the ten largest. Add in about 47 million residents in the largest 25 metropolitan areas. That's roughly 85 million people -- over 1/4 of the nation's population -- in just urban areas.

So why do we have to wait until late February or early March to find out what some of these largely urban states' residents think about the individuals running for president? I'm not hating on Iowans, but why should the vast majority of the nation even care what the caucuses uncover?

Well, really, the rest of us shouldn't.

Even if Obama "wins" on the Dems side. Even if Huckabee "wins" on the GOP side. Why? Because the real nuts will be cracked when California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Georgia have their primaries. That's where people live in large numbers, people who, chances are, more represent you.

Iowa represents Iowa. If you vote in your own self-interest, you won't pay attention to Iowa. You'll vote for the candidate that best represents YOU. If you think that your guy (or girl) can't win based on the results in Iowa or New Hampshire, you're missing the boat.

Respect Iowans for expressing their choice, but you, dear readers, need to express your own choice for your own unique circumstances where you live.

Iowa doesn't represent me, and probably doesn't represent you, either.