Iowa caucuses go first in presidential nominating calendar, but at what cost?

Who says there’s no bipartisanship in Iowa politics? This past week, the chairmen of the two parties in Iowa issued a joint statement to promote their upcoming precinct caucuses.

“Iowa Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much, but we do agree in keeping Iowa first in the nation,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn said in a news release.

This is how it has been for decades. Through bitter disagreements and seismic political shifts, Iowa Republicans and Democrats have always come together to defend Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.

After almost 50 years, Iowa’s arguments for staying first might be wearing thin.

Iowans have to ask what’s more important — ensuring voter access or clinging to being first?

We got lucky in 2020 that the caucuses happened a few weeks before COVID-19 was detected in Iowa but caucusgoers this year are confronted with the omicron variant wave, which has peaked but is nevertheless ongoing.

Republicans will hold all their meetings in person. Statewide Democratic leaders initially planned to do the same, but they eventually gave in to county parties asking to operate virtually. Johnson County Democrats will conduct their caucuses via Zoom, while Linn County Democrats will caucus in person.

It’s a reminder of the risk that comes with relying on in-person proceedings. This year’s caucuses have low stakes — just for party business, no presidential nominating contest — but a future presidential year could confront us with another surge of the endemic coronavirus or an old-fashioned Iowa blizzard. Regardless of the situation, Iowans ought to have some way to sound off on the next leader of the free world without showing up to an elementary school library at a designated time on a winter night.

The problem is that when you start giving people options to participate remotely, it starts looking like a presidential primary and not a caucus. Officials in other states — in particular outgoing New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner — cry foul at the prospect of an Iowa pseudo-primary upending the prescribed calendar.

We are not against the caucuses nor against Iowa going first. As Iowa newspaper staffers, we like the status quo as much as anybody. It gives us and our readers coveted access to presidential contenders. It brings national attention to the issues affecting Iowans that The Gazette covers each day. But we admit the caucuses face some tough questions.

Iowans have to ask what’s more important — ensuring voter access or clinging to being first?

In coordination with the national party, Iowa Democrats in 2020 introduced some changes — an option to participate by telephone and a new way to tally first-choice preferences in their confusing viability and realignment scheme.

Those changes weren’t necessarily the problem but the 2020 caucuses turned out to be a disaster for Iowa Democrats. A poorly functioning smartphone app for precinct leaders to report results caused delays in producing the results, giving ammunition to those who say Iowa doesn’t deserve this vaunted status.

At a Democratic National Committee meeting last week, members discussed the possibility of reforming their nominating contests and calendar. “Iowa caucuses on trial,” Politico wrote in a headline.

Democrats looking to shake up the order commonly bring up a few of the same goals. They want states with early nominating dates to offer accessible primaries, be diverse and be electorally important to Democrats in a presidential election. Iowa doesn’t check any of those boxes.

It might be a national spectacle on cable news, but for most Iowans it’s just another Monday night.

This editorial is focused on Democrats because they are the ones mulling changes to the process but we want to see both parties have open and accessible contests. For now, Republicans aren’t discussing reforming their caucuses, which are much more streamlined than Democrats’ but still suffer from the time and place requirements.

The Iowa caucuses are wrapped up in romantic ideals about retail politics and grassroots campaigning. The process conjures images of candidates eating corn dogs at the fair and shaking hands in diners, hanging out and doing stuff average Americans do.

Despite all the fanfare, the average Iowan doesn't actually participate in the caucuses.

The parties’ biggest caucuses ever — more than 180,000 Republicans in 2016 and more than 230,000 Democrats in 2008 — only represented about a third of each party’s registered members. And no-party voters, who until the past couple years were the largest share of Iowans, are not allowed to participate in caucuses.

It might be a national spectacle on cable news, but for most Iowans it’s just another Monday night. It makes you wonder if we are living up to the democratic ideals the caucuses purport to embody. And if not, you have to wonder if there’s a better way.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com