The Iowa Caucus

The other day I asked my wife if she was following anything regarding the Iowa Caucus. She said no that it was still way too early to care. I guessing that most people in the country feel the same way.

The way I see it - the Iowa Caucus is like spring training in baseball. Only the die hard fans really follow what happens in spring training. Most of the TV stations and newspapers will send people to cover "the action" but honestly most fans wait till the season starts or until late in the season when a team you like starts looking like they might make the playoffs to actually care. Only then will most people become emotionally involved and start following the minutia that goes with the team.

The Iowa Caucus is the same way. Only the really die hard political junkies are emotionally involved at this point. The people in Iowa? They're just like the people in Florida or Arizona during spring training. They are having their "moment in the sun" - so to speak. They get to see the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs in person but soon those teams will be moving on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow may be the last time anyone in Iowa sees any of the top candidates set foot in their state.

Also - like spring training - the results are more of a guide post than anything else. Sure teams like to leave spring training with some momentum but it more important to leave spring training healthy and with the kinks worked out. Nobody wants to lose a key player to an injury in spring training. In Iowa it was probably more important for the top candidates not to make any mistakes and to move on to the real primaries. Avoiding a Dean scream or a Gary Hart "lick my erection - not wreck my election" episode was almost as important as winning.

Spring training is a place for no-name players to make an impression in an attempt to make the roster. This equates to people like Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. Sorry - back to AAA guys. Maybe even time to hang up the spikes?

Conversely - a word of warning for you Huckabee, Obama and Edwards supporters - this year in spring training JD Drew hit .356 and everyone thought he was going to light the world on fire. Just saying.