« Lou Dobbs: The Man in the Middle | Main | Expectations » Snow Falling on Pundits03 Jan 2008 02:24 pm
Given that the Iowa caucus is basically a media-generated phenomenon that wouldn't matter at all if not for the hype, it's a little strange that it's in Iowa in January. All one hears this week as a journalists are complaints from colleagues in Des Moines or Nashua about how cold it is. Under the circumstances, surely everyone could get behind something like a first-in-the-nation Hawaii Caucus. That sounds more fun for pundits and politicos alike. Comments (28)
Or an Iowa caucus in April, the way things were in 1960. 
Will you put up a predictions thread already? Sheesh.
Or push if further back, to say September 2007. The January Iowa caucus is just a phase we're going through.
It would have the virtue of compensating Hawaiians for not having their votes counted in the general election until the election has been decided.
Isn't this when Fred chimes in with his "It's cold today in Iowa, global warming is a lie!" routine? C'mon, Fred. Where art thou?
But then how will candidates be able to fly back to vote for non-binding Christmas celebration resolutions and appearances on late night TV?
How about Florida going first? (although, I have to admit, it's friggin' cold here today). Gus
Run with this, Matt, I think you're on to something! Once enough pundits start thinking about this, Iowa's first-in-the-nation status will be history. You may have just made your first big contribution to American political reform.
Why can't we outsource it to India? Hire 100 million people at 1$/day for five days to inform themselves as much as they can about America's needs and then choose a Dem and a Republican to run against one another. Simple.
All the whimpering about how cold it is creates the illusion that eating and drinking for free, and getting paid to follow around famous people and write down what they say, is grueling and noble. If the same process took place in an LA-style climate everyone would understand how similar it is to LA-style celebrity journalism. Or maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Jackass, Nashua is in NH, not Iowa (well, there is a Nashua, IA, but it's tiny. Davenport or Ames would have worked better). Granted, NH is also very cold at this time of year, but aside from "Nashua" the blog lacks any reference to the NH primary. Details, Matt, details.
Listen, jackass, I know perfectly well that Nashua's in New Hampshire. It's cold in Nashua. I have colleagues who are in NH right now. They're complaining about the cold.
I don't know about Iowa, per se, but southern Wisconsin is due to hit the high 40's all weekend, just in time for everybody to have left for frigid NH. Enjoy!
Listen, jackasses, leave me out of this.
"Will you put up a predictions thread already? Sheesh." 37% Edwards Biden takes fourth, for whatever that's worth.
" surely everyone could get behind something like a first-in-the-nation Hawaii Caucus. " Oh man, there'd be an unshakeable bipartisan commitment to poi-based ethanol faster than you could turn around.
Am I missing something? I've heard reporters note that it's cold in Iowa -- hell, I've heard Obama say it -- but I haven't heard them complain about (much less harp on) the weather any more than one would expect.
People are going to work and school and doing shopping today in Iowa and New Hampshire. Ironically, winter happens every winter. The issues involved in this election are far more important than anyone's comfort in the northen climes. Sure, you are partially facetious, but all the complaining gets really tiresome. I used to live in Fargo, ND and always looked on in wonder as workers fixed water main breaks at -20 degrees. They were uncomfortable and thus I have no sympathy for correspondents who are inconvenienced when they have to run to their car in the cold.
LOL, Matthew does read the comments. You just have to call him a jackass.
Sort of along the Navigator's point, but less humorous, is the fact that America's sugar tariffs are maybe our only agricultural policy worse than the stuff designed to bribe Iowa voters. A key primary in Hawaii will quickly see our sugar prices go from 200% of world market to about 500%.
"Given that the Iowa caucus is basically a media-generated phenomenon that wouldn't matter at all..." At ALL, AT ALL, not even a neutral "as much" but NOT AT ALL. I can't wait till we move to the rotating primary/caucus or national caucus thingy so I get to bitch and moan about how awful California is for giving us Aaaanold, or Reagan, or Pete Wilson for that matter. Or how 'bout Florida givin' Jeb Bush, or George, or the fucking chad. Or when Pennsylvania gives us Spector, or Man-on-dog. Or New York gives us Gulianni (or Hillary, for that matter). Or when Illinois gives us Ryan, or the Chicago machine... Obviously, I'm not naming just presidential candidates, but just noting how fucked up every state in the Union can be when it comes to politics. But, of course, positively nothing could top lily-white Iowa with their colder than a witch's tit weather for doing irreparable damage to our democracy by going first ("Lordy, lordy, deliver us from the eeeeevil that is Iowa!!!"). Thank God I won't have to listen to the "WAAAAA! Why do they get to go first" or "Why didn't they pick Howard Dean, he's a real winner" or "Iowans wouldn't, couldn't possibly select a minority or a progressive" or "Some idiot on the TV said that Iowa is a Red State. They shouldn't be allowed to pick the Democrat. Only a state like California or Vermont or states with a large urban areas like New York or Illinois knows what being a Democrat really means." Nope, I just get to sit back and watch the insults fly as one by one each state has a chance to demonstrate they are no better or worse (though, I have a feeling some will be much worse) at picking a POTUS candidate than good Old Ioway...
Rihilism, where are you from? In all seriousness, though, I think you may have conflated two parts of the Iowa critique. One part is the lily-white rural critique, which has merit insofar as Iowa's populace isn't very representative of the country as a whole. The same is true of NH. But this critique isn't intended to say these states should be barred from having influence in the primary process; it's intended to say that they shouldn't get to make the choice more-or-less free of any other states' input. Whatever one's feeling about NH and IA, it really is weird and stupid that two states with white non-Hispanic populations over 90% and no cities larger than 200,000 people have such an outsized role in picking a Democratic nominee. The other part is the caucus critique. The caucuses were never supposed to be this big in the primary process. They serve a valuable purpose on a local level, but they're also severely undemocratic, and the fact that they have such an important role in choosing nominees is simply bad. The first critique is of Iowa-alone; if there were a more diverse group of states including Iowa, it would be no problem. It's just that making such an argument would involve a lot of conjecture about an appropriate set of other states rather than simply offering the problem of the current set of states. It sounds to a patriotic Iowan more vitriolic than it is meant to be. The second critique is of Iowa-at-all; any state using caucuses in its primary should be subject to some political scorn.
I've heard reporters note that it's cold in Iowa -- hell, I've heard Obama say it -- but I haven't heard them complain about (much less harp on) the weather any more than one would expect. As an Official Media Insider I get to hear people making weather-related complaints that don't make it on air or into print. It's a great privilege.
I've heard reporters note that it's cold in Iowa -- hell, I've heard Obama say it -- but I haven't heard them complain about (much less harp on) the weather any more than one would expect. It's not so much that they explicitly complain about the weather (though they do). It's more that they write stories about a candidate going door-to-door and make it sound like, say, navigating snow-covered front-porch steps is difficult and/or interesting. For example: "In Manchester, more than 30 members of the media stumbled through the snowbanks beside Clinton as she walked the icy sidewalk of Montgomery Street with supporter Lou D'Allesandro, a state senator, clutching her elbow to make sure she didn't slip in her boots." Holy shit! Icy sidewalks! Snow on the ground!
This does once again raise the point: why Iowa? What the hell is in Iowa? Snow? Who gives a shit about Iowa anywhere else in the country except on this day? When was the last time you even HEARD of ANYTHING that happened in Iowa in the last, oh, four years - since the last caucus? Political or otherwise? I could understand Colorado. I could understand Kansas. I could understand Illinois. Iowa? Here's what Wikipedia says: "The racial make up of the state is 91.5% white (non-Hispanic), 3.7% Hispanic, 2.5% black, 1.4% Asian, and 0.3% American Indian." Kinda makes it not terribly representative of most anywhere else,right? "Iowa's main agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle and dairy products." Exciting. "Des Moines also serves as a center for the insurance industry." Exciting. "Iowa is the headquarters for seven of the top 1,000 companies for revenue." Wow. Seven. Less than one percent. "The national and international media give Iowa (and New Hampshire) about half of all the attention accorded the national candidate selection process, which gives Iowa voters enormous leverage." Again - why? "It's a swing state". So what? I gotta say, it's pretty obvious that this is strictly some sort of manufactured importance which is then offered up for anybody to use as they want for their own agenda.
The poi-ethanol quip was cute, but it's cane that would be king again if the election season started out here. The difference is that - unlike ADM and corn - there aren't any family sugar cane growers out here for the big boys to hide behind, so the cost/benefit analysis would probably be less clouded by emotion. Kucinich seemed to do well in the Maui precincts in the last primary, but I think that was just the hippy-dippy fringe making their statement. From Obama's point of view, it's probably better to have just edged out Clinton and Edwards in Iowa than knocking out of the park in Hawaii. The pundits would have written it off as a native son thing.
Comments closed January 17, 2008. |
Search
Subscribe to this blog by Email Books by Matthew Yglesias
Recent Comments
Recent Posts
Weekly Archives
Categories
|
Copyright © 2008 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Nah, Hawaii's not white enough.
Posted by Ryan | January 3, 2008 2:32 PM