The Iowa caucus just concluded (that I watched with horrified fascination) again reinforced the notion that Iowans haven’t got a clue.

I entered the following on the Morning Joe web site that invites viewers to comment:

On Morning Joe today there was some discussion about the usefulness and validity of the Iowa caucus – was it inconclusive because it did not represent America as it really is. One of the older pundits (sorry I can’t remember who) said he thought the Iowa caucus was useful because it vetted the candidate realistically as opposed to the ads and the interviews on various shows. It gives the viewers, he said, an opportunity to see one-on-one interaction with voters and gives us a realistic view of who they are.

Perhaps so, but this view totally overlooks a key dynamic of the Iowa caucus as it has evolved in recent years.
It is this: Reasonable, centrist, viable Republican candidates want no part of the far right agenda that now dominates the selection of a candidate and that Iowa has come to represent. They do not even get in the race because their responsible social positions and willingness to cooperate to fulfill their obligations are anathema to these voters. McCain prevailed because he caved on running with Palin. McCain became the tail to Palin’s dog. No one of integrity wants to be a prisoner of this process as McCain was, so they avoid the clown show.

The Iowa caucus predisposes candidates to pretend to be far right if they aren’t already, and the rest of the country watches in horror as representatives of 19th century thinking prevail.

What has not been discussed is that Iowa is a factor in WHO runs and that should not be. Iowa is a venue, not the arbiter of national political philosophy that it now prides itself that it is.
End of my comments

In any case, I think the term, “family values”, is a euphemism for intolerance. Those who use it believe only white, Christian folk should have any rights. When I hear Rick Perry say, “Let’s take our country back,” who does he mean? Who has hijacked our country? He (and others using this tack) never articulate because they need the black vote, the gay vote, the Hispanic vote, the thinking woman’s vote – but their base knows who they mean.

And, of course, the latest horror, Santorum’s vow to end birth control for everyone, married or not. He is campaigning in a bubble and believes the bubble. Can you imagine the country at large voting for someone who is going to criminalize 90 percent of the population? Keep talking, Rick, it's your doom.

xx, Teal