It’s become a popular political sport to pontificate over the Iowa Caucuses this week, as national reporters wring their hands about how influential the Hawkeye State’s white, rural voters are in the Presidential nominating process.  To be in “high fashion”, one should expound like New London’s The Day did in an editorial today about the Iowa caucuses:

“Small states, such as Iowa, which in no way are representative of the nation as a whole, have disproportionate influence on choosing nominees simply because their elections come early in the nomination process. Only a relatively small number of Iowans will participate in tonight’s caucuses, perhaps 150,000 in a state of nearly 3 million people. Yet their collective decision will influence the course of the national election.”

The Iowa experience is certainly not perfect.  Anyone can walk into either caucus, register with a Party, and then vote.  The Presidential campaign of Barack Obama openly solicited out-of-state college students, at the University of Iowa and elsewhere, to register and participate in the Democratic Caucus.  The event-style nature of the process means that inevitably, some people will have to work or take care of the kids or otherwise be unable to make it to the Caucus. 

And yet, despite these flaws, it speaks well that in a nation of 300 million people, becoming the Chief Executive Officer requires applicants to trudge through snow, meet people at the local farmer’s Co-op, and wander the State Fair.  In an era in which Washington politicians often seem to become so ‘rarefied’ by the experience, asking candidates to spend a significant amount of time worrying about whether or not the people in every little prarie town is health for the democratic process.

It also seems critical to remember that Iowa isn’t choosing a President tonight - they are offering their voice (albeit first) in the decision-making process about who will be the nominee for each Party.  That the national news media tromps in from New York City and Washington only to declare the Iowans unfit to decide smacks of hypocrisy.

Iowans will gather tonight and make their collective voices heard.  We should look forward to their contribution to the political dialogue in the coming hours.