Should We Care So Much About the Iowa Caucus?
The news today is flooded by the Iowa Caucus. Everybody is going crazy about it. Will it be Mitt Romney? Will it be Ron Paul? Will it be Newt Gingrich? (For the Republicans’ sake, I really hope that it’s not Newt Gingrich.)
I’ve never been able to understand the Iowa Caucus. It just seems so silly to make Iowa the place where an instant frontrunner is determined for either party. Yes, it’s the first test of what voters may be thinking, but Iowa is not exactly a cross-section of the American voting public. And is it wise for a party to allow potentially strong November candidates get knocked down, and perhaps out, this early in the process?
Regardless, we are gearing up for a pretty exciting 2012 presidential election, and the Iowa Caucus is the official kick-off. It wasn’t that long time ago that Mitt Romney came out to the Hamptons to do a little campaign fundraising, and now it would seem has a pretty good shot at wining Iowa.
What’s going on with the Republicans right now very much reminds me of what happened when John Kerry became the nominee. He was a weak candidate, and as much as Democrats wanted George Bush out, they just didn’t have a real challenger. I think the same thing is sort of happening now with the Republicans. All of the candidates they are bringing fourth seem to have dramatic faults that, at this point, seemingly will be hard to overcome against President Obama in November.
It amazes me that each side lets this happen during presidential elections when the foe will be an incumbent. Even the media can’t decide who it likes as the Republican candidate, with the focus almost comically changing from one to another.
Maybe the Iowa Caucus will clear the air today like it did for the Democrats with John Kerry eight years ago. But you have to be careful with putting too much stock in “Big Mo,” because look how that worked out for the Democrats in 2004.
Who do you think will win in Iowa? And will it have any impact on how the Hamptons votes?