http://www.nationalreview.com/node/430456/print Iowa Caucuses: A Subsidy for Iowa’s Political Establishment
By Jonah Goldberg — January 29, 2016
First, kill the Iowa caucuses.
Please note: I didn’t say, “Kill the Iowans.” I like Iowans and I like Iowa.
But we need to get Iowa’s boot off our neck.
That may be misunderstood, as well. You see, we’re not under the heel of all Iowans. If we were, that’d actually be better because that would mean lots of Iowans turned out to vote.
But most don’t. As Jeff Greenfield recently noted in Politico, rumors of Iowa’s commitment to democratic engagement are wildly overstated. In 2008, a record-shattering 350,000 caucus-goers caucus-went. All the buzz was about the precedent-shattering turnout for the Democratic longshot, Senator Barack Obama. He got first-time and young voters to come out in droves. “This is what democracy looks like!” was the spirit of the moment.
Greenfield quotes a study from the Kennedy School of Government: “In percentage terms, Iowa’s turnout was hardly earthshaking — only 1 in 6 of the eligible adults participated. The Democratic winner, Barack Obama, received the votes of just 4 percent of Iowa’s eligible voters. Mike Huckabee, the Republican victor, attracted the support of a mere 2 percent of Iowa adults.”
The turnout in New Hampshire: More than 1 in 2 (51.9 percent).
Such appallingly low turnout in Iowa underscores the real problem with the caucuses. They’ve been hijacked by party activists — on both sides
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