ABC's Person of the Week: The Iowa Voter.

[VolcanoJen]

ABC World News Tonight has chosen The Iowa Voter as its Person of the Week.

This was actually a very postive, and rather inspirational, piece highlighting ABC's Person of the Week. Although usually ABC chooses a single person who has influenced the news, this week, they chose The Iowa Voters, who challenged the pundits, and stood conventional wisdom on its ear, in ABC's words.

There isn't a link available yet, but the piece highlighted Frances Gunte (sp?), a repairman for a telephone company who was Kerry's Precinct Captain in one of C-SPAN's caucuses. They chose Gunte as a representative of all Iowa voters, just to show what democracy can mean at a grassroots level, to prove that democracy involves commitment, thought, time, dedication, and caring. The main thrust of the piece was: DON'T TRUST POLLS, DON'T TRUST CONVENTIONAL WISDOM.

ABC made a big deal out of the fact that Iowa Democrats turned out in large numbers on a frigid night for this year's caucus, more than double the number in 2000; they also mentioned that 1/2 of the caucusers were first-timers.

It was an amazing piece, and I hope they repeat it on Nightline tonight. It didn't bash a single candidate, and it didn't highlight Kerry. It focused on democracy, as if it came straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. It praised the caucus system, pointing out that candidates must win votes one, by one, by one. They really emphasized the importance of the Iowa caucus. It was beautiful, for Americans and political junkies everywhere.

I enjoyed it immensely, and any fans of democracy by the people would enjoy ABC's selection. :-)

I'll post a link when it emerges!
- Jennifer

on edit: Chimpy McFlightSuit can spell better than I can!

[Qutzupalotl]

1. Next Week's: General Turnipseed

I can dream, can't I? :)

[VolcanoJen]

3. You know, we're all missing the best part.

As unfortunate as Dean's post-Iowa speech was, it did accomplish one goal:

It took the SOTU off the table. I mean, honestly, who in the media news biz right now is talking about that SOTU? And you know the Rovians worked day and night to get it right...

On Tuesday, I would have said Dean is cooked. On Friday, I say thank you. News always comes out of Iowa, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In this case, helpful to our cause... Democrat in the White House! It showed passion, and resolve. It wasn't all that bad, in retrospect. In fact, in every stormy cloud, a silver lining.

The fact that ABC did not name Bush the Person of the Week for the SOTU, and instead chose to honor and celebrate what is, this year, our process and ours alone, is newsworthy in its own right.

[eileen from OH]

2. I'll have to read it. . .

although once I found out how the Iowa Caucus actually worked (which was only slightly less convoluted than my VCR manual) I didn't even bother to watch most of it. Sounded a helluva less like "Democracy In Action" than "Let's Make A Deal."

The idea that a handful of Iowa voters, in a non-documented and non-credentialed political swap meet, could so influence an election that affects us all, is appalling.

It's not their fault, really, but the (yeah, yeah, here it comes) bloody media who took it and transformed a neat little local political event into a nationwide referendum. It wasn't even a freakin' primary, for pete's sake.

I do want to read the article and I do think it's great that they take their responsibility to heart. I just don't know how or why this relatively tiny group gets to have such a disproportionate amount of influence.

If I had my "druthers" I'd have all the primaries on the same day. As a Super Tuesday state (OH) I'm just a tad tired of having a CAUCUS in Iowa and early primary states decide who the nominee is.

eileen from OH

[VolcanoJen]

4. If we had a national primary...

... we'd choose our candidates based on who has the most money to air the most television ads nationwide.

No more Merrimack Diner, no more shaking hands with Iowa pig farmers. I'm a Buckeye, too, but I don't think Ohio would make a good choice for first primary of the nation. We're a huge state, huge population, and we'd honestly dehumanize the entire thing.

There's something about Iowa and New Hampshire, the two tiny states that get all the primary season love, that makes me incredibly jealous. I also love it... because without those two little states, why would a candidate ever leave the comfort of their own home, or senate floor, or lobbying office? Just run ads. It would be more like selling beer than selecting a leader.

God Bless Iowa and New Hampshire.

:-)

[eileen from OH]

5. I see your point

but don't you think it's a bit of a problem that two tiny states have such a huge amount of clout? I'd be willing to go with a draw for the earliest primaries, or SOMETHING other than what we have. I mean, really, when you think of it - those two tiny states with their two tiny electoral vote totals basically determine the candidates. I don't know much about either of those states, except that I never elected them to choose the candidates. And I don't know that it's ever been proven that they somehow are representative of the country as a whole, or are any way indicative of how a candidate will do in a general election.

And I don't think that candidates would just run ads any more than they just run ads in Iowa or NH. They'd actually have to work, and visit, and discover the concerns of the states that WILL ultimately deliver the electoral votes. For those of us who work and donate for MONTHS only to watch a freakin' CAUCUS and a tiny state's primary decide who the nominee is, well, it sucks.

I don't have the answers, but there has to be something better than this.

eileen from OH

[VolcanoJen]

6. Except that the nominee has not yet been decided.

ON EDIT: Added current electoral college vote counts to state list.

eileen, I agree with you. There has got to be something else. But let's take a look at just a few things before chucking NH and IA, or blaming NH and IA.

Iowa and New Hampshire, political season after political season, serve to introduce the larger states to the candidates. Nothing is decided yet, and even after New Hampshire, not a single candidate will have accumulated the delegates necessary to secure his nomination.

Yes, yes, I realize that the media puts a huge emphasis on the outcome of these two races, and that momentum coming out of IA and NH really means something. But, I think the issue we should take up is with the media, not the electorate. Nobody in Iowa or New Hampshire will dictate how I'll vote in my own primary, on March 2. And, look at the lesson Iowa voters handed the media pundits on January 19, 2004. Our fellow Americans in Iowa have shown that they'll choose who they like, thank you very much.

In fact, it's rather likely that March 2, Super Tuesday, will decide everything. Look at the big, huge, population-heavy states on this list. Don't we, in the end, really get to decide? We can either rubber-stamp the IA-NH-SC vote, or we can be go out on our own, en masse, and decide who wins. We have the power, because we have the people.

Electoral votes in parentheses:

http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president_state_primary_dates.php

California Presidential Primary (55)
Connecticut Presidential Primary (7)
Georgia Presidential Preference Primary (15)
Maryland Presidential Primary (10)
Massachusetts Presidential Primary (12)
Minnesota Democratic Caucuses (10)
Minnesota Republican Caucuses (10)
New York Presidential Primary (31)
Ohio Presidential Primary (20)
Rhode Island Presidential Preference Primary (4)
Vermont Presidential Primary (3)

If I lived in NH or IA, I think I'd be a little bit jealous of Ohio, and the other big Super Tuesday states, now that I really think about it.