… Or a few reasons why Iowa is dumb.
The Huckabong Express, a rare breed of 2003 Ford Escape manned by yours truly, pulled into Des Moines this evening after an apocalyptic 350-mile drive from Chicago. Ratio of cars-driving to cars-stuck-in-a–roadside-gunkpit was abnormally low, with a couple of bad wrecks. The Express survived a couple of scares itself, once after it hit a snarl of ice and once after its captain got bold with a gas-mileage estimation. (Traveler’s note: Feed the automobile at the DeKalb Oasis on I-88, before you hit the desolate stretch of road that leads to Dixon, IL, Boyhood Home of Ronald Reagan. Secondary note: Avoid at all costs the Skyway Oasis on I-90 just before Chicago, reputed to be the home of the nastiest McDonald‘s on the face of the planet.)
When I wasn’t rubbernecking I had plenty of time to mull over the political circus that is the Iowa caucuses.
It’s been noted quite a bit recently that the caucuses are an undemocratic way to pick presidential candidates. One reason: the state is not at all racially representative of the U.S. 2.3 percent of Iowans are black, compared to 12.4 percent nationally; 3.7 percent Hispanic versus 14.4 percent; and 1.4 percent Asian against 4.3 percent. And there’s also the state’s tiny population: Iowa has about 2.3 million people of voting age — one percent of the entire voting age population in the United States. Add that turnout for both parties on Thursday, based on the 2004 Democratic numbers, can be expected to run about 240,000, and you’ve got .11 percent of the nation’s eligible voters dictating who will continue to run for the nomination.
The horror. We the media play our role in this shitstorm too, of course. As faithful members of the profession, the Express and I will do our part over the next few days as we bring you all the Huckabee news that’s fit to spit.
More pictures of snow (not the Obama kind) after the jump.