January 14, 2004
THIS IOWA THING
Many people seem to think of the primary being held in Iowa this week as an “election.”
Far from it. There are no voting booths, no chad producing, folded forms, no electronically sustained machines to be accused of malfunction in tallying up votes.
The Iowa system has been devised somewhat haphazardly over the years as a means of making it appear that the nomination of candidates comes from the heart of the people, rather than from a small group of experienced, campaign-hardened politicians in a “back” room , preferable “smoke-filled” - getting together to decide to back the individual they think who can win, rather than be the best man to lead our nation.
The Iowa Primary has often been likened to series of Town Meetings all being held at the same time. Each such caucus of kindred interests selects a candidate from the list presented – and there is a real bevy of them this year; and, after some haggling seeking other caucus groups to favor their choice as well, they put their wishes together to find the chosen one. He or she will be the candidate to whom the state's delegates to the National Democratic Convention will be pledged and obligated.
It Iowa primary has become increasingly important on a national scale largely because it happens to be first. The District of Columbia names its few delegates the same day but that usually goes by virtually ignored. New Hampshire is the next big one a few days later. This gives the media people enough time to pontificate on “the revelations, astounding shifts, puzzling trends and what-if” factors of Iowa and maintain enough momentum to carry them to the promising New Hampshire event. It also provides enough time for them to move their ever-growing caravan of TV tower trucks and personnel vans from corn to granite frequencies.
Entire political careers live or die with this Iowa affair. Some political fires are quenched forever. Others are caused to “s moulder” because of a relatively good showing in Iowa.
There would be a school of thought, I suppose. which would rather be chosen by working politicians in a back room - smoky or not - rather than a varied group of voters who are a very small fraction of the entire number of voters in a state, who think they know what they are doing - however sincere they might be.
A.L.M. January 13, 2004 [c-420wds]
