Syndication Weekly

Jonah Goldberg is not a fan of Iowa's first in the nation status. To be fair his latest column states that no state should have all the power. I was very interested to read Mr. Goldberg's comments as an Iowan. I would agree that perhaps the world is not holding their breath to see which Republican and which Democrat should be their party's nominee for president. By judging the interest in this country be media migration to the state, I would rate it very high. But the argument may be moot as Iowa has been chosen to be first and such attention might follow any state which found itself first. Goldberg does praise the people of Iowa for their niceness, and for having a great steakhouse in Montour. His comments are not simply directed at the Hawkeye state but go for New Hampshire, or any one state in the union. He writes that no one state should have all the power. Goldberg writes about how stupid caucusing is as compared to voting. One involves a secret ballot the other a song and dance in front of your neighbors that involves politicking and jockeying for bodies to make a certain candidate viable. Mr. Goldberg describes it as, "a mix of Chinese fire drill, Politburo theatrics, and Roman priestly ceremony. I would agree with that comparison, I am glad that as a Republican we are left with a simple straw poll vote. For as much as we value tradition, I think the choice of a caucus is somewhat antiquated. If we want as much participation we should aim at creating a process all want to participate in. Mr. Goldberg also makes the participation argument in which he points to the relatively small numbers that take part in the caucus. I think that this is not unique to Iowa but overall participation in our political process in nowhere near where it should be. Maybe some other states would do a better job, as a native Iowan I must admit I enjoy the attention our small state gets every four years. We draw attention from the nation as pundits, media, and other observers come to watch the process unfold. This is rare attention for our state, those same individuals are not flocking every year to watch the corn grow. In the concluding statements Mr. Goldberg provides a solution to the problem by instituting that the states rotate. In doing so Mr. Goldberg states that by doing so it will ensure, "that the country isn't hostage by the same left-wing and right-wing populists every four years."
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODZjOGE1YmY0OGEyNzdhN2QyY2Q1OTlhNzZjMTgzYzg=
Courtesy of National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com