Clown car

I’m sorry, Iowans, you’re lovely people and I’m sure you mean well, but this is not an optimal way to select the leadership for a country as large and diverse as ours. Because the rest of us are tired of finding euphemisms — unpredictable! — for the fact that too many of you are actually insulated from the effects of your choices:

This doesn’t surprise me. It’s politics as lifehack. She’s looking for One Weird Trick that will solve all of America’s problems. Revolution! MAGA! A gay millennial! The only surprise is that she’s not supporting Yang, the ultimate lifehack candidate. https://t.co/fGwOK1wFlv

— Steve M. (@nomoremister) January 17, 2020

There is a common thread through all of that—the willingness to vote for a white-nationalist president, and her utter disregard for her vote’s effect on Trump’s targets. She is using his re-election like a gun pointed at the head of a hostage. Pick my guy, or the country gets it.

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 16, 2020

Great anecdote here capturing the chronically indecisive Iowa voter: a Buttigieg *canvasser* still thinking about Warren https://t.co/FpH0NJKfe1

— Bill Scher (@billscher) January 14, 2020

And, no, you’re not responsible for the DNC’s weirder efforts to please all its warring factions, but if we weren’t all fixated on your antiquated caucus system (yes, and NH’s cranky insistence on being FRIST IN THE NATION, forty-nine other states be damned), the DNC would have a much more practical path…

(AP) — For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party will report three sets of results from the party’s presidential caucuses. And there is no guarantee that all three will show the same winner.
(from @AP) https://t.co/9CKr64MWYL

— Stephen Ohlemacher (@stephenatap) January 16, 2020

NEW from me and @POLITICO_Steve: Iowa Dems are bracing for a messy caucus night with potentially more than one candidate claiming victory. https://t.co/fX1ROYlSOB

— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) January 16, 2020

… “I think that people need to idle their engines a little bit,” says Penny Rosfjord, an Iowa Democratic Party district chair. “A caucus was never meant to be smooth; it’s kind of a messy process. It’s not a straightforward, check a box and move on.”…

In Iowa, approximately 30% of registered voters are Democrats.

Of that number, approximately 15% participate in caucuses.

4.5% of Iowa’s population participates in the Dem caucus.

Hardly representative of the state let alone the country.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) January 9, 2020

My hot take on this is that the more spinnable the results are for multiple campaigns, the more Iowa’s value as an electoral tastemaker diminishes. https://t.co/9fympWdrFB

— Matt Pearce ?? (@mattdpearce) January 16, 2020

Of course, it’s never easy to give up a perceived entitlement...

Counterpoint from other readers: “Democrats have tried to make them accessible. Blame the national party.”
“Sour grapes?”
“It’s on the candidates to try to sway the voting populace by getting out and campaigning.” #iacaucus https://t.co/ouaaxiZDLZ

— Bleeding Heartland (@LauraRBelin) January 6, 2020

… but once you’ve laid down this burden, we’ll all be happier voters!

Election Year Open Thread: Cancel IowaPost + Comments (204)