A great answer for those who say, "Why should Iowa go first?" [View all]

From the NYT article, "The Pundit-Defying Idiosyncrasies of Iowa Voters" (also worth a read if you get past the pay wall) this comment:

I am learning quite a bit by reading the comments here. Most glaring is the notion that people in Iowa do not share the concerns and viewpoints of the nation as a whole.

I know that Iowans get cancer, go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills, are buried in student loan debt, serve proudly in uniform, work hard but have trouble keeping up, are already affected by climate change, are already suffering as a consequence of an ill-conceived trade war.

I'm just surprised that the rest of the country is not at all burdened by those concerns.

Keep in mind too that, without the Iowa Caucus, Barack Obama would not have been president (yet). With 3% in polls going into campaign season, he would have never mustered enough support to win a one-day national primary. It was only after Mr. Obama convinced Iowans of his sincerity, intelligence, and energy that other states like South Carolina believed sufficiently that, in fact, Yes We Can (win).

So we'll again do the best we can. You're free to heed or ignore the outcome.

https://nyti.ms/2Me6dJj#permid=101977549