Frankly, there were already a number of valid reasons why the Iowa caucus system should be abolished. Now we have yet another – the Iowa Democratic Committee is obviously too incompetent to be trusted with the important task of hosting the first in the nation contest to determine the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.  As I write this the results of last night’s caucuses are still unknown.  That’s unbelievable!  It is an embarrassment!  It has allowed our enemies to claim that the caucus process was rigged and that if the Democratic party can’t run a simple election contest, how can we be expected to properly run a nation.

This disaster is totally unfair to the candidates who participated.  Most of them invested an unreal amount of time, money and other resources into their Iowa campaigns and, as of now, they have absolutely nothing to show for it.  You might say, well, sooner or later the results will be known and all will be well. No, unfortunately, that’s not how it will work.  It was already a crowed news cycle with little time for those candidates to did well in the Iowa caucuses to bask in the public’s attention.

Kansas City fans are still celebrating their Super Bowl victory of the day before. An impeached president will give his (probably controversial) State of the Union address this evening.  He will probably be acquitted of his impeachment charges by the Senate tomorrow.  The candidates are already campaigning in New Hampshire for the primary to be held there just 7 days from today.  The longer it takes to produce the Iowa results, the less they will matter. That is a poor reward for all of the thousands of hours and millions of dollars the candidates invested in state.

If this was just a one time foul-up and the only negative associated with the Iowa caucus system, perhaps it could be overlooked.  But it isn’t.  Back in June of last year I published an article on this blog, The Iowa Caucus System Should be Abolished  where I discussed the many reasons why the caucus system should done away with. So that you don’t have to read the whole piece I will summarize here:

Iowa Is Electorally Insignificant and Is Not Representative of the Demographics of the Democratic Party

• Iowa is ranked 31^st in the nation in terms of population.
• The 49 person Iowa delegation will represent only 1.2% of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
• A large percentage of Democratic Party (40%) is composed of people of color.
• Iowa is 88.4% White,  and only 5.7% Hispanic, 3.5% Black or African American, and 2.4% Asian.

The Iowa Caucus System is Non Representative and Unduly Burdens Voters

• Most of us spend a few minutes anytime on a given day voting in our Democratic primaries and some of us can even vote early. The goal is to make it easy to vote.
• The Iowa primaries are held at specific times and usually absorb several hours of the participants’ time. If whatever reason a voter is unavailable during the designated time period(s), they are out of luck.
• As a result traditionally only one fifth to one third of Iowa Democrats participate in the caucuses.
• The caucus results will only have an impact the election of only 36 of the 49 Iowa delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and not a direct impact at that. The rest of the delegates will be chosen from among the Iowa party bigwigs.

The Caucus Process is Unfair to the Candidates and the Voters in Other States:

• If you don’t live in Iowa, you may only get a fleeting glimpse of one or two of the Democratic candidates, or maybe a member of their family, or (in many areas) nothing at all.
• Iowa voters selfishly expect each of the candidates to visit their area of the state multiple times so they can “get to know them”.
• Candidates not only have to win over the voters, but also have to spend lots of money and other resources on campaign organizations that will get those voters participate in the unwieldy caucus events.
• Many candidates will spend more time and money in Iowa than they will in any other state.

The Caucus Process Is Unwieldy and To Open to Manipulation

• In my state, and the in vast majority of the others, after the voting has been completed, a count of the ballots is made, usually electronically. Those counts are turned in, and the statewide results are reported. The entire process take one day.
• In Iowa people are counting heads at the caucuses while the voters are moving around and, in some cases, trying to game to the system.
• The process doesn’t end with yesterday’s caucuses.
• Delegates chosen yesterday will attend the county caucuses, delegates from the county caucuses will attend one of 4 division caucuses, and delegates from the division caucuses will attend the state caucus where the actual delegates to the national convention will be chosen.
• The actual winner of the Iowa caucuses in terms of number of delegates to the national convention may not be known for over 4 months. By that time all of the other states will have chosen their delegates.
• The entire process is ripe with opportunities for manipulation.

When you add to all of these problems to the apparent inability of the Iowa Democratic Committee to control and properly report results, it adds up to a process that is too antiquated, too non-representative, too cumbersome, too unwieldy, and too burdensome on the voters and the candidates to continue to be the first in the nation presidential contest.  Ideally the people of Iowa should simplify their lives by adopting the primary election system used by the vast majority of the states.  If they refuse to do so, the National Party must mandate a change in the date of the Iowa caucus to one later on the primary schedule.

Cajun    2/4/2020