We Get To Decide Who You Will Vote For [Part 1]

In just over an hour, Kimberly and I will be attending our very first Iowa Caucus where we will get to decide who you eventually vote for. Other than the one time I voted in Seattle, this is the first time my vote will actually count for something; growing up in always-Democrat-Massachusetts somewhat minimizes the worth of your vote.

This is the biggest thing going in Iowa, except for the State Fair. It's basically been the lead story on the news every single night since we moved here. If we had been more motivated, we could have met almost all of the candidates - Obama, Clinton, Richardson, Romney, and a handful of the others were in town just over the last few days.

I always thought it was kind of weird that Iowa was the first chooser-of-the-President places. It's kind of a small state, with a pretty small population. It's also really, really white. And rural. The 'First-in-the-Nation' status of Iowa is why farm subsidies will never go away and why inefficient corn-based ethanol is being forced down our throats.

On top of that, the caucus-concept is a pretty strange thing. I could try to explain it, but this interactive piece from the Boston Globe does a much better job than I ever could. Basically, we'll be going to a big room (a lot of the caucuses are held in people's houses, especially in really rural towns), standing in a corner, and talking about the candidates. There's no absentee balloting and all the voting is public (both remnants from the days of Town Meetings and the like). Add to that the fact that it could last for 2-3 hours, and the caucus is even weirder. But I hear they usually serve punch and dessert, so that's nice.

But having lived here for 5 months now, I realize that the Iowa Caucus is more important than I originally thought. Iowans take this stuff seriously Really seriously. They view the caucus as their opportunity to vet every candidate for the benefit of the rest of the country. They ask every question, push every button, and turn over every rock. And the state is pretty evenly balanced Republican-Democrat (it's a Purple State), so both sides get the same thorough review.

I still have no idea who I'm voting for. I don't think Kimberly does either. I might just use totally arbitrary criteria: we met Chris Dodd, so he's got a point; Obama sent us a Christmas card, so he gets a point; someone wrote a hip-hop song for Kucinich, so he's got that. Maybe I'll just pick whichever candidate has the best snacks at their table. Or whoever has the most people at the start (aka popularity). Totally arbitrary seems about right: I'm pretty sure that's how the rest of the country chooses, so why not.

I'll check in later on with a summary wrap up. And since the process is all public anyways, maybe I'll let you know who we voted for.