"Iowa and New Hampshire" by Daniel W.
It’s that time again. The time when the people across the nation who believe in the popular vote over the electoral college go out and support a similar system that they do not believe in. In a time when equality is considered the most important issue by many Americans, there has been a new debate started over the fairness of the process by which political parties in America nominate candidates for the Presidency of the United States.
For a long while now, the democratic party has been largely located in urban areas- heavily populated places like Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. These liberals feel the need and are motivated to make elections better represent the country as a whole, and they definitely do not want certain people to have an advantage over other voters. That is precisely why there has been much controversy about the process of nominating democrats. Iowa and New Hampshire, two of the most white-dominated, relatively small states in America, have been the first states to vote for many decades now.
According to Jonathan Stahl of the National Constitution Center, it all started at the 1972 Iowa Democratic State Convention. On the original week of the convention, there were going to be no available hotel rooms in Des Moines, Iowa. So, to allow the convention to happen at an earlier date, the Democratic caucus was moved up to January 24- the earliest nominating process of the cycle. Stahl explains how this was immediately taken advantage of: “George McGovern, the eventual Democratic nominee, realized the opportunity that Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status could provide to his campaign, and dedicated time and resources to campaigning in the state.” Four years later, Iowa Republicans realized the opportunity at hand. They realized the potential influence their state could have on the other states by voting first, so they planned their caucus on the same day as the Democrats’. New Hampshire, as a result, became the second state to cast votes but still the first primary. Nowadays, primaries are used by all but five states due to higher populations.
For a long while now, the democratic party has been largely located in urban areas- heavily populated places like Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. These liberals feel the need and are motivated to make elections better represent the country as a whole, and they definitely do not want certain people to have an advantage over other voters. That is precisely why there has been much controversy about the process of nominating democrats. Iowa and New Hampshire, two of the most white-dominated, relatively small states in America, have been the first states to vote for many decades now.
According to Jonathan Stahl of the National Constitution Center, it all started at the 1972 Iowa Democratic State Convention. On the original week of the convention, there were going to be no available hotel rooms in Des Moines, Iowa. So, to allow the convention to happen at an earlier date, the Democratic caucus was moved up to January 24- the earliest nominating process of the cycle. Stahl explains how this was immediately taken advantage of: “George McGovern, the eventual Democratic nominee, realized the opportunity that Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status could provide to his campaign, and dedicated time and resources to campaigning in the state.” Four years later, Iowa Republicans realized the opportunity at hand. They realized the potential influence their state could have on the other states by voting first, so they planned their caucus on the same day as the Democrats’. New Hampshire, as a result, became the second state to cast votes but still the first primary. Nowadays, primaries are used by all but five states due to higher populations.
So how important are Iowa and New Hampshire in nominations? Well, according to Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight, “Since 1976, the eventual Democratic nominee has almost always won either Iowa or New Hampshire (or both). In fact, there’s only one time this didn’t happen — Bill Clinton in 1992.” So why do these votes matter so much in the eventual nomination? After all, the number of delegates from each state are relatively low and has little effect on the actual result. The answer: the media. Just in the last few weeks, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have been receiving more publicity than ever before. This social diffusion cannot be replaced with funding or donors. So, rather than a candidate’s popularity spreading through contagious diffusion from Iowa and New Hampshire, they are just seen more through all of the country due to the media. This exposure is crucial in winning more delegates in the weeks to come, and they can and have allowed candidates to win just from it.
But why does it matter? As stated before, Iowa and New Hampshire are overwhelmingly similar; both states are roughly ninety percent white, while the country as a whole is sixty percent white (Zhou). This means that early on in the nomination process, minorities are unable to make their voices be heard as much as whites. So, how would you fix this situation? States could just make their voting dates earlier, but Iowa has a law that states that their caucus must take place at least eight days before any others. That would just result in the nomination happening to early. Some propose that somehow states will make a deal that will allow all states to vote on the same day, so I hope that this situation will be solved soon.
Works Cited
Skelley, Geoffrey. “How Much Do Iowa And New Hampshire Really Matter For 2020?” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 24 Oct. 2019, fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-do-iowa-and-new-hampshire-really-matter-for-2020/.
Stahl, Jonathan. “Why Iowa and New Hampshire Go First.” National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.org, constitutioncenter.org/blog/why-iowa-and-new-hampshire-go-first.
Zhou, Li. “Why Iowa and New Hampshire Shouldn't Go First in the Primaries Anymore.” Vox, Vox, 3 Feb. 2020, www.vox.com/2020/2/3/21046546/presidential-primary-state-order-iowa-new-hampshire-south-carolina.
Iowa and New Hampshire are always two powerhouse states for Democratic candidates. Despite their small size, these states are fought over heavily. However, the importance of winning these states in the primaries isn't as large as many would think. While a candidate's position in the polls is important along with the amount of votes they receive, it doesn't necessarily ensure them the nomination. Delegates are the ones who decide who receives the nomination for their party. While they are usually expected to nominate the candidate with the most votes, they don'y necessarily have to. A handful of super delegates have enough power to nominate whoever they want as their candidate. Due to this, the importance of primaries such as Iowa and New Hampshire aren't as large as many would consider.
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