Voting in the Democratic presidential primary start off in Iowa. Some argue that having a mostly-white state go first has a negative impact on the race. Should Iowa lose its spot as first to vote?
Ever since the major candidates announced they were joining the race for the Democratic presidential nomination a year ago, all eyes have been on Iowa. After 12 months of exhaustive news coverage, countless polls, contentious debates and passionate speeches, the actual voting will finally kick off with the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.
These factors, some argue, give an unfair amount of influence to a small number of white rural voters at the expense of urban voters in more diverse states. New Hampshire, the second state to vote, receives similar criticism. Iowa’s choice to vote through a complex caucus process is also a point of contention.
Iowa voters ensure that the candidates remain civil“Iowans like to think of themselves as unusually civil and friendly, and tend to frown on public displays of nastiness. So there’s a pretty stiff resistance to overtly negative campaigning.” — Ed Kilgore, New York There are ways to temper Iowa’s influence while still having it go first“The DNC’s schedule changes have changed the way the candidates have campaigned, and they have increased the influence that nonwhite voters outside of Iowa have on the presidential nominating process. We can debate whether the current arrangement strikes the right balance, but we shouldn’t act as if there isn’t any balance at all.
Iowa is becoming increasingly unfit for the Democratic agenda“In Iowa, fretting about the caucuses is a quadrennial tradition among Democratic and Republican officials alike. But at a time when leading Democrats have made the fight for ballot access, voting rights and diverse representation core principles, their marquee presidential contest offers none of those elements.” — Sydney Ember and Reid J.
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