Both senators and 3 of 4 representatives are Republicans.

Iowa is at this time a right-wing state. Yet we allow it to set the tone when we pick our presidential nominee. What a dumb idea.

We should pick a swing state for our first primary or caucus.

I know Iowa well. It's full of conservative people. I love the state, but why don't we hold our first caucus or primary in a state like Illinois with an urban as well as rural population? Or New York? Or Florida? Or any state that has a mix of liberals and conservatives -- a better mix than Iowa.

left.

I love Iowa, adore Iowans, but we don't need a state with only one Democrat in the Congress to lead the way during presidential election years. Iowans need to at least have more than one Democrat in Congress to deserve to be the first primary for Democrats.

be one of the reasons.

Iowa has not always tilted conservative and hopefully it won't stay that way very long. In this country decisions should not be based on ideology.

Iowa was once one of the leading progressive states along with Wisconsin and Minnesota. The upper midwest has produced such progressive as Fighting Bob LaFollette, Hubert Humphrey, Gaylord Nelson and Iowa's own Henry Wallace, Harold Hughes and Tom Harkin.

So don't condemn a whole state because we have one Stinky Steve King. We also have two of the most progressive learning institutions in the country in the U of Iowa and Grinnell.

I myself opposed caucuses in general and favor a rotating first in nation primary system where about ten states of all stripe share the first primary day.

BTW - we gave Barack Obama a huge boost.

I remember when Iowa was more liberal than it is today. What happened?

purposeful divisive politics, cranking up the fear, especially fear of "others".......

If you have ever seen "Brainwashing My Father" it pretty much tells the story of how it happened to one guy.

Iowa has no liberal media. Something like 15 for right wing radio outlets in all the major cities. I have a close friend who has sort of chronicled RW media in Iowa. Here is a link to one of her most recent posts on the subject:

https://blogforiowa.com/2017/12/26/10-things-you-can-do-right-now-about-the-right-wing-media-in-iowa/

When Sinclair TV picks up Tribune Media TV stations, Sinclair gets something like 4 more outlets to feed into Iowa.

This is not s whole lot different than Wisconsin, Kansas or damn near anyplace else in the country.

The long vision takeover of media dates clear back to Lewis Powell's memo in 1970. Republicans have played the long game knowing full well that they can buy the political system. Dems are only now waking up to what has hit them.

Our primary was just moved up from June to the month of March. It isn't the first primary state but it is progress.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-primary-date-march_us_59cc13c8e4b02aef6cd73e65