Even before embarrassing technical mishaps rendered the Iowa caucuses a spectacular anti-climax, it seemed that Americans’ patience with the way our political parties pick their nominees was waning.
This cycle, the most pointed criticism of Iowa and New Hampshire’s power to winnow down the field of presidential contenders came from Julián Castro, who lamented that the heavily white populations of both states aren’t representative of the country as a whole.
“Iowa and New Hampshire are wonderful states with wonderful people,” Castro said at a Cedar Rapids campaign stop in November. “But they’re also not reflective of the diversity of our country, and certainly not reflective of the diversity of the Democratic Party.” He’s right, of course. But a more general sense of resignation about this process abounds.
