On the street

First in the nation?

It was really hard to walk away from the Iowa caucuses. There was so much enthusiasm, so much energy and so much passion that I really wanted to take my coat off and participate. But I couldn’t.

As journalists, we’re not supposed to caucus. It was that way at my former newspaper and it’s that way here – and I would assume it’s that way at newspapers across the state. As objective providers of what’s going on, we lose some of that objectivity when we wear our political passions on our sleeves. I completely understand and agree with that assessment – as a journalist, I would not feel comfortable sitting among hundreds of caucus-goers and airing my opinion.

That said, congratulations to the literally hundreds of thousands of Iowans who did go out. Whether your candidate came out on top or straggled near the bottom, you can count yourselves among the proud who showed the rest of the nation just why it is Iowa is first – and why organizers will fight to keep that title.

I’ll admit I wasn’t completely sure why it was important for us to remain first. Would it really matter if we were first, 17th or 32nd? I didn’t think so. Then I had a friend who is better-versed than I am in all things politics explain a few things to me.

If Iowa weren’t first, there likely wouldn’t have been the millions of dollars spent on advertising here. A lead candidate would have been named somewhere else, and Iowa would be just another Midwest state with a few voters and caucus-goers who really paid attention.

If Iowa weren’t first, and this is taken directly from my friend, Mike Huckabee would probably not have been able to do what he was able to do here. Say California or New York or even New Hampshire would have been first. Would Huckabee have been able to cajole with the regular folk, thereby competing with his dollar-tossing competitor in a far more personable way? Probably not.

It’s not over yet. Iowa’s status as first in the nation could still be in jeopardy for the 2012 elections. But if this year’s caucus bears any weight, I’m guessing we get at least one more crack.

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