Des Moines is Iowa’s capital city and souvenir shop sells T-shirts with the following message: Iowa: You have to visit here for some reason to be president.
This could be changing – at least for Democrats.
Over half a century ago, New Hampshire and Iowa played a significant role in the selection of presidential candidates for the Democratic and Republican Parties.
These small states have the power to elect their favorite nominees due to their place at the top on the presidential nomination calendar for the next four years.
A few hundred thousand Americans can make a difference in the fate of candidates. This can make other local and regional issues like Iowa’s ethanol subsidies big talk points for politicians.
On Friday, the Democratic National Committee approved President Joe Biden’s plan for South Carolina to be his first primary election in 2024. A week later, Nevada and New Hampshire would follow each other. Georgia and Michigan followed in the weeks that followed.
Iowa would fall to the bottom of this list. This would result in Iowa falling to the bottom of the list.
Biden stated in a letter that early primaries must reflect “overall diversity” of the party and nation, stating that they should be representative of the country’s economic, geographic, and demographical strengths.
Both New Hampshire and Iowa have populations that are older and whiter than the national average. This has led to some left-leaning critics claiming they do not reflect the Democratic Party’s young, multicultural, urban-dwelling electoral coalition.
The majority of Michigan’s residents reside in cities like Detroit. Georgia’s average age is 37 years, which makes it the eighth-youngest US state. South Carolina is 26 percent black.
Biden stated that black voters have, for decades, been the backbone and strength of the Democratic Party. However they were pushed back during the primary period. It is high time we stopped taking these voters as a given.
However, past efforts have been stopped by these two states who jealously guard their position in the presidential selection process.
However, there are some reasons to think that this time will be different. Like many other recent presidents, Biden does not owe any debt to voters from the early states. He finished fifth in New Hampshire and fourth in Iowa in 2020.
He did not recover fully from these setbacks, but he won South Carolina’s primary, which was the state that would be most benefited by the proposed calendar.
Democrats were embarrassed by the Iowa 2020 caucuses. Attempts to electronically report the results of the 1,700 precinct custodian caucuses (where voters meet in the evening and discuss and vote for candidates) were hampered by technical problems.
A second problem is the fact that Iowa as a state has trended Republican over recent years. Iowa has been governed by Republicans since 2011, and Mr Biden was unable to win the state. Democrats might not be as concerned with angering voters living in states that are no longer on the electoral map for President Trump.
Iowa may now be in a precarious position, but New Hampshire will not lose its status as the top state without fighting. It has been there since 1920.
Although New Hampshire is small, it could be a swing state and play a pivotal role in any close race for the presidency. It also has two Democrats senators, which is a big difference from Iowa. Jeanne Shaheen, one of the senators, called Mr Biden’s decision “shortsighted”.
The Democratic National Committee has formed a committee to create the 2024 Primary Schedule. This schedule will need approval from the whole party committee, consisting of about 400 members.
Each state must schedule its primaries by the date agreed upon once a plan has been adopted. Otherwise, the party will discard their results at the convention in which the nominee for the presidency will be chosen.
Biden stated that his schedule would only be applicable to 2024, and that it be reviewed every four years. This suggests that Biden may have one interest in smoothing the way to the re-nomination process by placing South Carolina at its top.
It is not clear if Democrats are able to stomach quadrennial fighting over the primary process.
Republicans have stated that New Hampshire and Iowa will remain their top two choices for the near future. This opens up to the possibility of both parties having their candidates running in different areas in 2024.
