After the grueling 2008 primary season Democrats are reviewing the process. The good news for us Iowans is that nobody is even remotely suggesting Iowa lose the number 1 position. I doubt the same would be true if Hillary had won. I think the party would have outlawed caucuses and Iowa would be assigned a date in early June.
In the comments section a person - who is clearly not a fan of Iowa - quoted Pat Roberston's Haiti Deal with the Devil and then wrote:
This man got more votes in the Iowa caucuses than eventual nominee George H W Bush. If this isn't reason enough to remove the 'first in line privilege from Iowa, I don't what is.
She's right: Pat Roberston did come in ahead of Bush Sr. in 1988 and religious nut Alan Keyes had a particularly strong showing in 1996... the year Pat Buchanan came in second and almost beat Bob Dole.
What she doesn't understand is that these are Republican caucus results. The Republican party in Iowa is loaded with the Bible thumpers. Supposedly they've been purged from the party leadership - and I hope that's true - but they still can give the wackos a nice finish in the caucuses.
As for Democrats: In 2000 Al Gore was polling behind Bill Bradley in New Hampshire. He won the Iowa caucuses and never looked back.
In 2004 John Kerry was running third in neighboring New Hampshire behind Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. Once Kerry won the Iowa caucuses he became the anti-Dean candidate and never looked back.
In 2008, Obama won Iowa and Hillary came in third behind Edwards. Hillary won New Hampshire but Obama held on for the nomination.
In other words, yes, Iowa Republicans tend to go for the crazy unelectable candidate, but Iowa Democrats don't. Sadly, the Romney people are already sending the signal that they will use this excuse to skip Iowa in 2012.
So are people saying that if Iowa doesn't pick the winner, they don't get the #1 spot? That seems silly. Let Iowa keep their spot, just don't give their results any credibility (as with the Republicans, like you suggest). From what I hear, the crazies are still strong in the IA Republican Party, but there is a strong opposition (named Carole).
ReplyDeleteIt's more that the winner gets to write the rules. If Hillary had been elected her people would dominate the DNC. She came to hate caucuses and in June 2008 still believed that Obama cheated by busing in people from Illinois.
ReplyDeleteCarole was one of two Republican friends that was very happy that the religious nuts lost control of the Iowa Republican party... oddly enough, to a BC grad.