The Iowa Caucuses: First Tests of Presidential Aspiration - Term Paper Example

 The Iowa Caucuses: First Tests of Presidential Aspiration INTRODUCTION: This paper discusses the importance of Iowa caucus in the light of both its historical and the present perspective. Moreover, the importance of caucus shall also be explained through its five theories. Furthermore, the paper would explain the working process of the Iowa caucus so that the importance of the topic is highlighted. CONCEPT AND HISTORY OF IOWA CAUCUS: Elucidating the importance of the Iowa caucus would be unfruitful without first explaining the actual meaning and the history of the Iowa caucus itself. Iowa is a state in the United States of America which has many different counties. Caucus is a meeting of members, supporters or workers of a party. Caucus has generally been attached with the political meetings. If both the terms are looked in one perspective, the meaning of the word becomes ‘the gathering of the counties of Iowa for political discussions’. Iowa has ninety nine counties and thus there are ninety nine conventions. The process for election in Iowa is significantly different from the other states of America. While the other states elect the candidate by the routine process of polling through the polling stations, election in Iowa takes place when the people of Iowa gather in places like schools, hospitals, churches or public libraries. Here, the discussion is held regarding each party’s and the candidate’s position and stance. This is known as ‘The caucus’. Now, the people decide who is the worthy candidate and they vote for him/her accordingly. This is not a direct voting but rather an indirect voting method where the successful candidates get a head start as far as their chances in the elections are concern. The history of the Iowa caucus dates back to 1970s when the caucus was first brought to media attention (Redlawsk, 2010). In 1976 Jimmy Carter was able to secure the confidence of the Iowa caucus and thus also secured a candidateship for the presidency and finally the presidency itself. From this point onwards, the Iowa caucus was able to get the attention of all those especially who were looking for a place in the presidency position. But it is not as though winning in the Iowa caucus would ensure a guaranteed win in the actual elections as well. There are examples which can strengthen this argument. In 1988, the people who actually won the nomination from their parties to compete for the presidency did not win the Iowa caucus. It is now not tough to visualize that the primary reason which has been the signifying aspect of the Iowa caucus has been its presidency nominations. As Skipper mentions in his book that if a person is dreaming about becoming the president, he/she is dreaming about Iowa (Skipper 2010). People are of the view that the candidates, who get the confidence from the Iowa caucus, have a resilient chance for the actual nomination for the presidency. Thus, both the Democratic and the Republican Party give special attention to the results of the Iowa caucus. Furthermore, the media has been a crucial factor in magnifying the importance of the Iowa caucus. Presently, the situation of the Iowa caucus is such that although President Obama is currently unopposed, but he still campaigned from the Democratic side in the caucus. This shows the weight that is still placed on the caucus. IMPORTANCE OF THE IOWA CAUCUS: Once the definition and the concept of the Iowa caucus are clear, the importance of the Iowa caucus can be further illustrated. The importance of the caucus can be viewed as five distinct measures. Firstly, the candidate gets a clear directive as to what should be his/her future as a nominee. As Michael Shear says, "One reason the Hawkeye State retains its influence in the nominating fight”. As it is mentioned earlier, the caucus is more than just voting, people would ideally want to meet the person who is campaigning for the nomination and the aspiring nominee also takes the view of the caucus seriously thus, making the Iowa caucus, a direction of the future. Consequently, the first point is a step towards the second point which states that those who fail to live up to the caucus’s expectations, often fail to win the right for the nomination as well. As stated by Rachael Weiner, "there are three tickets out of Iowa — 'first-class, coach, and standby”. This is further clarified by Christopher Rantsin an interview with CNN confirming that Iowa is of significance because he considers it worth noticing. Moreover, the caucus can ideally be a decisive push in the race to presidency. This is mentioned by Elizabeth Hartfield as well. He says where Iowa, “truly gains its importance is in terms of momentum”. Suppose if two candidates are running head to head and one of the candidates get a clear majority in the Iowa caucus, then this candidate has a strong chance for the final win as well. Furthermore, the caucus gives the Mid-Western states affair representation in the race to presidency in the environment which is coastal dominant, as stated by John Lauk. He says, “the coastal media dominates the cultural and political discourse." Since there are no regional primaries, "Iowa serves as a proxy for the wider Midwest and helps to make the presidential selection process more representative of the interests of Middle America." The question is however, should the significant amount of weight be placed in the caucus which does not account for a representation from the entire country. In fact, the representation of the entire Iowa is not accounted as well. This argument is supported by the figures of 2008 in which only four percent of the population of Iowa which further means that point four percent of the population of the United States actually attended the caucus. Brian Montopoli is of the view that “It's absurd that we give a small number of Iowans such ‘extraordinary power’”. But the answer to this question lies in the fact that the presidency is an issue which works on public opinion. This opinion is shaped by a number of factors, a major one of which is the caucus. People give credit to this caucus and take decisions on the basis of these caucuses. Also, the media has given it so much attention that now, it is imperative for a candidate to gain the support in the Iowa caucus. CONCLUSION: The Iowa caucus, which is a pre-election nomination process, has been in limelight because of the presidential nomination that it has produced through its process of discussions and debates. The importance of the Iowa caucus are that candidates get a clear direction for their political future, the worthy candidates get a chance of getting to the top and the Mid-Western states get a representation in the nomination process. References: 1. Skipper, J., C., 2010, The Iowa caucuses: first tests of presidential aspiration, 1972-2008. Mc Farland Company, Inc., Publishers. 2. Redlawsk, P., D., Tolbert, T., C. and Donovan, T., 2010, Why Iowa?: How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nomination Process. The University of Chicago Press. 3. Shear, M., D., 2012, On Caucus Night, a Time Commitment, The Caucus. The New York Times. 4. Weiner, R., 2011, Why (and how) Iowa votes first, The Fix. The Washington Post. 5. Hamby, P., 2012, Iowa caucuses: Pulling the weeds from Republican field, Election Center. CNN. 6. Hartfield, E., 2011, What’s a Caucus? And Why Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses Are Important in 2012, ABC News. 7. Lauk, J., 2011, The Case for Iowa. The Claremount Institute. 8. Mayer, W., G., and Busch, A., 2004, The front-loading problem in presidential nominations, The Brooking Institution. 9. Montopoli, B., 2012, The overhyped, unrepresentative Iowa caucuses, Political Hotsheet. CBS News. Read More