As we eagerly await the hard numbers from Iowa tonight, it’s worth considering that although the Iowa caucuses may not have a great track record when it comes to predicting the eventual nominees of competitive primary seasons, doing well in Iowa has boosted many political careers. Without George H.W. Bush’s victory in 1980, he would not have been selected as Ronald Reagan’s vice president, he probably wouldn’t have been the 1988 nominee, and his sons George W. and Jeb probably would not have gotten the same high-profile starts to their own political careers later on.

Thanks to Iowa, we got not only a failed Carter presidency but then three subsequent decades of international peace missions, books, and sermonizing. Without his surprise second-place showing in 2004, John Edwards would never have made it onto the Democratic ticket, and the supermarket tabloids would have had a harder time selling their wares during 2008.

Hey, I never said that the Iowa caucuses giving a boost to all these political careers was a good thing.