The American Spectator

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Another Perspective

(Page 2 of 2)

IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE that voters would want to know that candidates care about them enough to visit and work hard for their votes, but Iowans are so spoiled by all the attention given to them, that it has gone to their heads.

Before the Romney event in Pella, I was minding my own business, tape recorder and notebook in hand, waiting for the candidate to make his way through the crowd and begin his speech. A grinning young attendee noticed me and taunted, "I bet I get to interview him before you do!"

In offering an idealized portrait of Iowans (and out of fear of being seen as elitist), political reporters will often talk about how real Americans in Iowa have better things to do with their lives than obsess over politics. These real Americans would rather be watching the Orange Bowl on Thursday night than voting. This patronizing attitude is unfair both to Iowans and to the rest of America.

While it's easy to understand how the political process can turn off voters, for all of the silliness that comes along with campaigns, the bottom line is at the end of this crazy circus, one person will emerge to become the most powerful leader in the world.

The president will help guide tax and spending policy, appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will make rulings for decades, determine under what circumstances America uses military force, and lead the nation through whatever crises may emerge in an uncertain world.

Voters often complain that the media control the political process, but Iowans have the unique opportunity to bypass the media and see all of the candidates up close, and even ask them questions directly. When next fall rolls around, many voters will complain about the lack of alternatives to the two major candidates, but because Iowa goes first, its voters have a chance to choose from a wide pallet of candidates in both parties.

Iowa's status in presidential politics has real consequences. Because a given candidate may be forced to drop out after Iowa, voters in other states who may like that candidate will be denied the ability to vote for him based on what Iowans decide. It also prompts so-called small government Republicans to embrace farm subsidies and Democrats to advocate increasingly protectionist trade policies.

The power that Iowans exert over the selection of our president would perhaps have some justification if voters here lived up to the stereotype of being active and discerning. But if after all of the time, money, and energy candidates have concentrated on the state, nine out of ten voters stay home on caucus night, they will not have kept their end of the bargain.

topics:
Trade, Barack Obama, Television, Business, Supreme Court, Military, Energy, Oil