Iowa’s ‘gold standard’ is now tarnished

DES MOINES – Is the Iowa caucus dead?

The nation’s first contest in presidential elections, the Iowa caucus, has long drawn floods of campaign staff and media attention as political parties try to narrow their primary field. But as officials were still unable to declare a winner Tuesday evening, nearly 24 hours after caucusgoers began gathering, some questioned whether the Hawkeye state should be first to vote.

“This fiasco means the end of the caucuses as a significant American political event. The rest of the country was already losing patience with Iowa anyway and this cooks Iowa’s goose. Frankly, it should,” David Yepsen, a famed and former Des Moines Register columnist, told Politico.

Monday’s Democratic caucus was fraught with chaos as the Iowa Democratic Party

delayed releasing official results because of widespread reporting problems amid new rules and a new app.

“We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results,” Mandy McClure, communications director for the state party, said.

Partial results released Tuesday evening showed former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appearing to be the early leaders with about 62% of Democratic precincts reporting.

With New Hampshire’s primary and news of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and impeachment trial all around the corner, the weight of the results may be lost and Iowa’s status as the bellwether state in question.

“I’d say there is going to be a real movement to change the order of primaries. I really do believe it and I never believed it before,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

“Iowa has always been the gold standard. They’ve always done the best job, and you saw last night what the best job can look like,” said Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution.

The lack of results on caucus night also drew complaints from campaigns. Candidates scrambled to take the stage and spin the non-results as a victory in speeches to their supporters.

“What happened tonight made the argument for itself. Nobody can deny this is a broken way to do it. It was a total mess,” said former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, a surrogate for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign slammed the process, too, saying the “considerable flaws” holding up election results demanded a speedy answer. Dana Remus, general counsel for the campaign, wrote in a letter to the party Monday as delays extended into early Tuesday, “We believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing.”

“This is a disaster,” Mathew Johnson, 46, of Urbandale said as he exited Sanders’ caucus night party. “To the rest of the country, we look like idiots.”

“Our credibility is facing a test,” said Iowa strategist Jeff Link.

Outside Iowa, others raised similar concerns. “I think the Democratic caucus in Iowa is a quirky, quaint tradition which should come to an end,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on MSNBC.

Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who came in third in Iowa in 2004, responded “basically yes” when asked on CNN if Iowa should no longer be the first state to vote, The Washington Post reported.

Iowa’s U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and its governor, Kim Reynolds, all Republicans, defended the caucus, however. “Iowa’s unique role encourages a grassroots nominating process that empowers everyday Americans, not Washington insiders or powerful billionaires,” they said in a statement. “The face-to-face retail politics nature of Iowa’s caucus system also encourages dialogue between candidates and voters that makes our presidential candidates accountable for the positions they take and the records they hold.”

Dianne Bystrom, director emerita of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, said she believes some criticisms of the caucuses were harsh.

“The Iowa caucuses are always under a watchful scrutiny,” Bystrom said. “Any time there is a mix-up or a delay – coupled with the fact that the Des Moines Register had to turn back their poll – it does make people impatient.”

The irony in the reporting issues Monday is they were largely caused by reforms Iowa instituted to combat past criticisms around caucuses not being transparent, Kamarck said.

Yet even if the problems didn’t arise, she said, concerns would still be raised around caucuses’ accessibility and turnout. “I’m not going to say it’s the death (of the Iowa caucus), but it sure doesn’t help.”

Miller reported from McLean, Virginia; Pfannenstiel reports for the Des Moines Register.