Paul Sassone

So, come Feb. 1 Iowa will have a new  president.

No?

Then why is so much attention being paid to the Iowa caucus?

Actually, there are two Iowa caucuses, one for Republicans and one for Democrats.

You can’t turn on the news, or read a newspaper, without the Iowa caucuses being rubbed in your face. So you’d think the Iowa caucuses must be pretty significant for the entire country.

But if you look at it closely, the relevance to anyone outside of Iowa is dubious.

First of all, the caucus is a cockamamie system that almost defies understanding and explanation.

But, I’ll give it a shot.

On Feb. 1 there will be precinct caucuses in all of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts. Now, right there is a problem because another source says there are 1,774 precincts.

Well, in however many precincts, delegates are elected to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties and thus 99 conventions.

County party chairmen are responsible for issuing the “call to caucus,” and set up times and locations, which often are in homes. Caucus-goers coffee-klatch and select a candidate. Results are tallied and sent to state party headquarters.

State party conventions then elect delegates to attend the national party convention  where a presidential nominee is selected.

So, what do the caucus winners win?

Candidates receiving the most votes in the county conventions receive delegates to the state and then to the national convention.

So, for you and me — the non-Iowans of this world — Iowa is just one of 50 states that will select presidential nominees.

So, why should we care about Iowa, as opposed to any other state, including our own?

Timing, for one reason. The Iowa caucuses come before other states’ more understandable primaries.

But, mostly, the Iowa caucuses are important because journalists tell us they are important.

Caucuses and primaries and polls are a huge part of the way journalists cover politics — as if it were a game or a horse race. Who is ahead?

And since the horse race is only in Iowa at the moment, the press invests Iowa with enormous and disproportionate importance.

But as far as I am concerned, all this Iowa stuff is just a lot of hot prairie air.

–Too much importance placed on Iowa caucuses–