What's unfair about the Iowa caucuses

Roger Simon: Inside Iowa

Excerpt:

Vilsack knows I am a fan both of Iowa and the Iowa caucuses, but I had to mention one thing to him that has long troubled me about the caucus process:

If you are an American serviceman or servicewoman from Iowa fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, you can’t vote in the Iowa caucus. If you are a disabled person and can’t leave your house, you can’t vote in the caucus. And if you work at night, you can’t vote in the caucus.

There are no absentee ballots allowed. You must show up to vote. And that just has never seemed fair to me.

Vilsack responded this way: “The caucus is about the party. We want to make it a little more difficult in order to make sure the voters who show up are really committed to the party.”


Comment: I connected via AOL I/M and then by phone with a co-worker in Iowa. He was unsure as to whether he would go out tonight. He did say that he was a Huckabee supporter. I asked him what was "with" the caucuses, "why not just have a primary?" His words not mine: "I guess we are weird"!