I visited my Iowa family over Thanksgiving and likely won't be back in my home state again for years. I didn't talk politics but all I heard was how those "people at the border were coming!" and "Biden has opened the border!"

Racism? These views seemed to definitely affect the voting. Though I didn't hear it in this visit they often have slanded views of "athletes," "inner city people" and "welfare." To me all code words for blacks and other minoroties.

Apparently, the R candidates themselves played this fear.

Ability to participate is very limited compared to walking into a precinct and casting a ballot.

I think a caucus night can be exciting and fun if you are very involved in participatory politics and that's a big part of your life. For most of us, though, we want to vote and be done with it.

Personally, no matter what state, I think primaries are better to keep the base involved without forcing them to get TOO involved by a required full-day or evening in-person participation.

they take too long, are not a secret ballot, they disenfranchise shift workers and the poor in short, they are a disaster.

Iowa State Democratic Conventions are pretty darn diverse.

I like slow food and slow caucuses.

Generally can't attend caucuses. Maybe if there was a mail option....

The more people who vote in a primary, the more who will feel invested in the party.

My thought is that the Dems current process of picking a candidate is quite flawed. What looks to be the national committee's answer to a flawed process is another flawed process. I don't think their answer will solve perceived problems. When New Hampshire was the first it was a problem.

As for Cullen's criticism I can't help but to take it with a giant grain of salt. Iowa's first in the nation status brings in a lot of money and notoriety to Iowa no matter whether the method of selection was a caucus, a primary or a giant convention.

Simply because we have a caucus system as first in the nation, many Iowans with any kind of a megaphone have built a lot of myth and defense for it. When I was growing up I heard similar stories about New Hampshire.

Three particular industries in Iowa do really well during the caucus season - restaurants, hotels and motels and news outlets. When the first in the nation status goes so goes much of the money and notoriety. It will be a big hit for many in those industries. The caucus season in Iowa starts a year+ before thee actual meeting night.

For those in the news industry, the caucuses have been a time to create a reputation or to burnish a reputation.

As for me, for a long time I have felt that the first in the nation status ought to be shared among several states at a time and that it rotate every 4 years. For instance, let's say Michigan, Georgia, New Hampshire and Oregon have first in the nation primaries this year. Four years from now four different states get the nod.

My first two caucuses had three and five attendees. It has only been in the past two decades that the importance of first in the nation has become such a big deal. That is mostly thanks to media hype.