The Iowa Caucuses and the Birth of a New Republican Party
The Iowa caucuses are absurd. They were designed to exclude. When the parties reformed their nominating systems in the seventies, taking the power from party brokers and handing it over to the people, it was assumed that most states would use a caucus system, which would attract party regulars and could be more easily controlled by state and local leaders. The opposite happened. The parties became more polarized, and caucuses, while still excluding most voters—who find the process intimidating or don’t have the time to commit an evening to party business—became dominated by the more extreme factions in the parties. If even a third of registered Republicans show up tonight to caucus, it would smash previous attendance records.