I was going to do another video this week; I was going to continue my ‘caucus series’ and discuss why Iowa continues to be the first in the nation. My opening standup was going to go something like this:

(Picture me standing in front of a sign that says “THE PEOPLE OF IOWA WECOME YOU…Fields of Opportunities.” Or better yet, imagine me standing in a cornfield.)

Here in Iowa we do things a bit differently. I think that’s apparent by now, but that’s also the beauty of this state and what makes us so important. Now, I’m pretty sick of talking about the caucuses, and I think you might be sick of hearing about them, but I have one more story that I think is important to the topic, then I’m putting this thing away.

(Yes, I planned to say that…)

So why wouldn’t it work to have, say, California be first in the nation? Well I again have my caucus experts to explain why we here in Iowa continue to be first.

…Then I was going to go back into my interviews with David Yepsen (political columnist, DM Register) and Steffen Schmidt (political science professor, ISU) and explain what makes us unique [and important].

However, I don’t think a video is necessary because I’m pretty sure I can sum it up better in text, plus frankly I was running out of footage to “paint the picture” with. If you want to see what a caucus looks like, check out my post-caucus blog, and if you want to learn more about the caucus process itself, check out my “Caucus Anticipation” blog.

So you understand by now the history of the caucus and how we’ve come to be first, you’ve seen the effects of the media involvement, and you know that youths had their impact on this year’s caucus….But now I’m going to discuss why we continue to be first…

Here it is in a nutshell: our country can't decide on a better way to do it. There have been lots of suggestions, many by other states who think Iowa gets too much attention early in the race, but on the whole, the country cannot agree on a better system.

“I think most Iowans feel like it’s neat to be first,” said Yepsen. “If somebody wants to come up with a better system for doing it, fine, then Iowa would probably be willing to give up this position, but if it’s just a matter of moving to another state, then Iowans are going to say, ‘No, we want to be first too.’”

The way it looks, Iowa and New Hampshire will continue to be first until there is a solid reason [that everyone can agree on] to start elsewhere, something Yepsen and Schmidt don’t foresee happening anytime soon.

There are also reasons for having small states start off the political season. Early on in the process, by having a caucus in a state like Iowa and the first primary in New Hampshire, candidates are forced to talk to real voters. If things were started off in a larger state like California or Texas, you wouldn’t see the candidate-voter interaction that you saw here the weeks leading up to the caucus; it would all be about fighting for airtime. It’s this same reason that allows under-funded candidates to survive early in the race.

“The small candidates would have a really hard time…it would only be the wealthy candidates who can afford to buy all the media necessary and do an air war,” said Schmidt. “In Iowa we say candidates do a ground war because they have to drive around in buses and trucks and cars and go to all these different little cafes and stuff.”

Schmidt gave the example that a candidate like Huckabee could have been weeded out long before had the process not started in Iowa, but now you see him still holding momentum.

This 'ground war' also relates to the amount of the media involvement here in Iowa because the candidates, in Schmidt’s words, “can’t B.S. as much.” As they talk to concerned citizens, the media is right there listening to every word they say.

“The candidates have to learn to deal with real people,” said Schmidt. “When people ask them a question they don’t want to hear, that’s too bad because they have to answer it…It’s kind of like a training school for running in the bigger states.”

Case in point…as I write this I’m watching the results of the Florida primary, pretty much the first “big state” primary so far. Rudy Giuliani chose to skip out on all the first caucuses and primaries and concentrate on Florida, only to pull out 15% of the vote. I can’t say for sure where he went wrong, but I think it’s safe to say that small states like Iowa and New Hampshire might be more important than he gave them credit for, because now he’s out of the race.

It’s hard to say how long and to what extent we’ll continue to be a political force here in Iowa, but I don’t foresee things changing anytime soon. It’s our time to shine every four years; we don’t get much attention otherwise, so I don’t think we’ll give up our precious caucuses anytime soon.