Iowa Caucus: Tourist Trap?

By Mackenzie Ferguson

Starting my first day in Iowa excited to volunteer for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign, I could only imagine the difference that I would make through participating in a historic political event that I have studied intensely in my political science classes. Knowing the past couple of months that I had the opportunity to come to Iowa during the political caucuses, I had dreams of entering a state where everyone was politically engaged and excited about their role of being first in the nation. However, my dreams were quickly turned upside down on my way to canvas for Warren, as I engaged which my uber driver in a conversation about the caucuses. I asked him about the caucus process and what he thought about it, and he informed me that he only went to his first caucus in 2016 after living in the state for 25 years. He was not impressed with the caucus process and did not know if he would participate in it again. As Kelly Clarkson’s “Dark Side” played through the radio of the uber, I felt my hopes of a unified politically engaged state start to darken as well.

Hoping that the uber driver was the only one who was not excited to be politically engaged in the Iowa caucuses, I started knocking on doors hopeful to confirm my dreams of Iowans who loved politics and wanted to debate policy positions. A combination of the Iowa wind and the first 20 doors I knocked on being unanswered started to chip away at that hope once again. Finally, when someone answered the door, I started reciting the Warren script waiting to banter about policy positions and candidates. The lady at the door, who was wearing a purple cat sweater, was extremely polite throughout my speech, but quickly told me that she did not caucus and would not be voting in the primary this year. Questioning why someone would give up the opportunity to be a part of something so iconic and historical, she informed me that because she was not a loud person, she did not believe that her voice was heard during the caucus process. Not only did she believe that she did not have a voice, she also did not quite understand the caucus process and was not willing to deal with the hassle. Throughout the day, I saw that this lack of enthusiasm for the caucus was a pattern. When people actually answered the door, they did not seem to be politically engaged or have a strong opinion about who they were going to vote for with only 24 days until the caucus.

While I understand this was only a glimpse into the entirety of the Iowa caucuses, I could not help but be disappointed in the way that the people of Iowa viewed their role in the determination of the country’s politics. Throughout the day I could not help but wonder whether the Iowa caucus is only a tourist trap, something to bring in politically engaged outsiders into the state to annoyingly push the locals to participate in an event that haunts them and their daily lives for a certain period of time every four years. While I hope I will be proven wrong in the days to come, does the stereotype of Iowans being political activists actually live up to the truth? Or are the caucuses hyped up by those outside Iowa too much?