I would prefer if the order of the states in the presidential primary rotated around from cycle to cycle, so every American could have a chance to have a significant say in whom the major parties nominate. For the past generation or so, Iowans, New Hampshire residents, Nevadans, and South Carolinians have enjoyed the most influence in the process, and it’s reasonable that the other 46 states would like to play a role beyond that of an ATM for the candidates.
But the Iowa Democratic Caucus has earned particular scorn, as its organizers suffered one of the great “you had one job!” moments of all time and failed to count the votes on caucus night in 2020. It took three days for the state party to tabulate the results, which used to be available the night of the caucus, live, on television, late in the evening, in the era before the internet. The caucuses were held Monday evening; by Wednesday afternoon, not only could the state party not provide the full results or say when it would be able provide full results, it also could not explain why it could not provide full results. It was the biggest embarrassment in the presidential-nomination process for any state in modern history.
The Democratic National Committee, justifiably irate, punished Iowa and kicked it toward the back of the line. Iowa Democrats, wholly embracing the party’s philosophy that no one should ever be held accountable for anything, decided earlier this year that they would ignore the DNC’s punishment, go rogue, and have a mail-in primary in January that aligns with their regular caucus meetings.
According to Politico, the DNC is saying, fine, but you can’t release any results of that mail-in primary until Super Tuesday, and you have to accept votes until that date.
Democrats in the state said they will mail presidential preference cards on Jan. 12, while holding their in-person precinct caucuses on Jan. 15, timed with the Republican presidential primary caucuses. But to comply with the DNC — and minimize the significance of the contest — the Iowa Democratic Party plans to accept preference cards postmarked any time before March 5, Super Tuesday, and won’t release the results of their mail-in caucus until then.
As of this writing, on Super Tuesday, Democrats will select their presidential nominee — almost certainly President Biden, barring some sudden health issue or other unexpected event — in Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. In other words, Iowa will be just another state, nothing special, nothing early, nothing key to the race.
Meanwhile, the Iowa Republican Caucus remains intact and is scheduled for January 15. But Iowa Republicans didn’t have any problems in 2020.