Packing My Bages

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I've made up my mind. I'm packing my bags and moving to Iowa. And it's not because I can get a two bedroom house for $575 in Iowa City, a quarter of the cost for a two bedroom in the remote reaches of New York City. Nor is it because of all the money I could make off campaigning candidates (if they only gave me the money directly, instead of spending it in the media for thirty minutes of my time every four years. No, it's because I think I finally figured out this whole caucus thing.

tonight is the Iowa Caucus, and all evening long I've been watching Network news anchors and analysts try to explain to the rest of the country how the whole process works, something we all seem to forget every four years, myself included. The anchors weren't doing too good of a job, I must confess, either. That is until a Iowa voter called in to his National Public Radio station and explained how he missed the caucus in order to see his son compete in his first swim meet. The radio host asked if he was upset that he didn't get to participate, and he said it didn't bother him. I was shocked, until he explained how he admired the grass roots approach Iowa had over other states, where even though he couldn't participate in a caucus, he had a chance to meet the candidates personally, take part in town hall hall meetings and debates, and have his own questions answered by the candidates in person.

The radio host still tried to play out the angle that the process was undemocratic, since people who couldn't drive or had other functions to attend to kept them out of the caucus. Myself, being someone who would be left out in the cold since I can't drive a car, I could empathize with this argument. But then I started thinking about all the elections I've voted in, and did I ever really feel like my voice was heard. I've helped out on political campaigns, but I've never shaked the hand of a presidential candidate. I've watched plenty of debates on television, but I've never debated a candidate in person.

I can see now the beauty that lies in the Iowa style of politics. It's not so much about the individual, but the voice that is elected. It's not so much about the individual, but the ideal. Great things come out of great ideas, and the lengthy discourse that we've all endured over the past couple of months in Iowa has forced me to ask some serious questions, myself, over what are the real issues that effect my life. What issues effect those around me and the country, or the whole world for that fact? And with the media splicing up so much of what candidates say, I think hearing it from them directly, as they look me in the eye, is a much more authentic piece of American democracy. I can see how grass root campaigns give way to much more fertile soil for genuine debate, a refreshing thought after the land slide of debates these past few months on network and cable television.

Now I just need to convince my wife and dog to leave the city..