Should Iowa be first?

By Liam Collins

When I found out I was coming on this trip I was absolutely elated. As a total political nerd, I have always heard the hype around the Iowa caucuses and thought they were seriously the coolest thing in the world. Who wouldn’t want to meet with your friends and neighbors in 2-degree weather to talk about politics? Sounded like a dream (well, maybe besides the weather. I’ve joked too many times that the first-in-the-nation caucuses should be held in Miami).

But since coming here to Iowa for the first time, I’ve noticed that not all Iowans share those same views. It’s been a conversation we’ve asked nearly everyone we’ve spoken to on this trip: Should Iowa be first? Most voters have said yes, citing the state’s infrastructure and its people’s detailed concentration on the importance of their role in the political process that you simply wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. Some, however, have said no, saying the state is not representative of America (mainly racially) and that the caucus process is inherently disadvantageous of a number of groups (i.e. disabled Americans, the elderly, low-income individuals, etc.). It’s been a question I’ve gone back-and-forth on since I first heard the conversation be brought up. And, to be clear, I don’t have an answer as to what my thoughts are at this time. But I do think that it’s a fair question, and a question that we should dissect very carefully.

My goal for this trip was to talk to Iowans. So, I did just that. But, I wanted to do my best to talk to the average Iowan — not the Iowan that does his/her best to speak to every single candidate that shows up to their town. So, I made it a point to speak to every Uber driver that I met. And I found that most of them did not care at all. As I learned today, even our bus driver, Tim, who wears an American flag tie every day, does not understand the caucus process and asked one of us who the best candidates were. It caught me off-guard, but when I thought about it, only 15.7% of eligible Iowans caucused in 2016. It’s a high turnout for a caucus state, but a shockingly low turnout for a primary.

That conversation forced me to reconsider whether Iowa has earned its title as the first-in-the-nation contest. Sure, no state can be perfectly representative of the country. But, should we let such a small amount of people have such a large amount of power in the presidential selection process? No president has ever been elected without placing in the top three of the Iowa caucuses. That’s a lot of authority.