Iowa has NEVER elected a woman Governor or a Dem woman to Congress.

[pnwmom]

In its entire history, it had never elected ANY woman to the US Congress till GOP Joni Ernst was elected.

In its state government, only 27/100 members are women. Only 7/50 Senators are female.

And yet Iowa, and New Hampshire, the least diverse state in the country, are the two bellwethers for the election.

Iowans aren’t accustomed to women in positions of political power. It’s amazing that Hillary is doing this well.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_General_Assembly

http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-this-could-be-the-year-iowa-sends-its-first-woman-to-congress/

In its 168 years, Iowa has never elected a woman to Congress, or picked one as its governor.

For many residents who pride themselves on a progressive civil rights history that predates statehood, that political reality has become an exasperating distinction shared with only one other state – Mississippi.

“It’s very irritating to be grouped with Mississippi,” says Roxanne Conlin, a Democrat and former U.S. attorney who ran for governor in 1982, the first Iowa woman to do so, and for Senate in 2010. “When I tell people, they just can’t believe it.”

[leftofcool]

1. Iowa and NH as arbiters of any primary are jokes

One needs only look at the demographics.

[cascadiance]

29. If Iowa wasn't a caucus state, I don't think this would be the case...

I do like the idea of a caucus state, where candidates can meet a lot more with the voters in advance of the caucus, and caucus voters meet together to discuss the election, and therefore frame it more when up until that point it hasn't been "framed" much yet.

Now perhaps to balance it out, have a high population state like California the same day as the Iowa caucuses (or another state using a caucus system), so that we can get a balance of different sets of and styles of voting to have something like a caucus system be more valuable than it would be if it were later in the election cycle when so many issues are a lot more discussed in other preceding state primaries.

I think caucuses also give the chance for people to interact with other campaigns (such as perhaps Bernie voters with O'Malley voters) so that they can see where their concerns and beliefs overlap and where they don't to learn early on whether alliances can be built at this stage when getting reps for diverse sets of voters that can't by themselves make a group for a delegate. I think the campaigns watching this process can learn a lot how the different candidates' bases may be more aligned or problematic in trying to align with in later campaigns if perhaps one of the candidates drops out like O'Malley.

[dsc]

2. conversely NH had an entirely female Congressional delegation plus a woman governor

for a couple of years. I still have had problems with our set up for several years.

[pnwmom]

4. And the fewest minority voters in the country, a group who strongly support Hillary. n/t

[dsc]

20. their racial demographics are a big part of my problem with them being first

regardless of which candidate the current set up favors.

[pnwmom]

22. And meanwhile, DC, with the highest % of AA voters, goes last, in late June. n/t

[dsc]

25. they must have moved

their were fairly early in 2004, I think it was March. That is problematic.

[Ken Burch]

49. That's DWS' fault, not Bernie's

Most Sanders supporters would support D.C. voting early in the process(along with NY and California, so Latino voters would have a meaningful role in the nomination process.

BTW, I wouldn't assume HRC will sweep D.C.. She has never fought all that hard for the issues voters there care about.

[pnwmom]

50. Since when is that DWS's decision? n/t

[Ken Burch]

53. It's the DNC that lays out the primary/caucus schedule. DWS always gets her way on that stuff.

So would any other DNC chair in any other nomination cycle.

But you keep making it sound like the D.C. caucus date is somehow Bernie's fault.

Nobody in the Sanders campaign had any say in the caucus scheduling...it was all locked in before Bernie even declared...and there's no reason to think that Bernie wants D.C.'s caucus to be too late to matter.

It's the centrist hack's doing...not the progressive insurgents.

[pnwmom]

54. Do you have a link showing DWS scheduled the DC primary?

She didn't schedule the NH primary, or the Iowa caucus.

And please point to anywhere I said the schedule is Bernie's fault.

[Gman]

3. Yup

Go figure

[Kalidurga]

5. Then by all means make California the first primary state.

[catnhatnh]

6. Tah-Dah, 49 left to go

Iowa hasn't even caucused yet and ZING-under the bus....

[pnwmom]

8. Hillary's backstop has always been minority voters in Southern states.

Bernie has shown little movement there.

[JonLeibowitz]

7. Why can't it be a discussion of ideas, not a matter of what bits you have between your legs?

Or maybe, just maybe, it is just such a discussion of ideas. And Hillary is not doing so well in that respect, having few good ideas.

[pnwmom]

9. Ask that of the Iowans who have never voted for a woman. If they were considering

just ideas, a woman would have been elected to high political office long ago. Instead, Iowa and Mississippi are the ONLY states that never had -- until 2014.

[JonLeibowitz]

10. You would have to show that they voted on the grounds of gender, that Iowans are sexist people.

[pnwmom]

11. Iowan women are just as capable as women everywhere. The fact that

no woman had ever been elected till 2014 -- and there still is only one -- proves that discrimination was involved.

[JonLeibowitz]

13. No it does not prove that.

[pnwmom]

17. You can't deny that they are NOT accustomed to women with political power.

In Iowa's entire 170 year history, only a single woman has ever achieved a Federal office or the Governor's office.

Which is truly pathetic and not representative of our country's values.

[JonLeibowitz]

18. They are not accustomed, no.

I was not accustomed to black men being in political power. Didn't affect my vote in 2012 though. See the difference?

You need to actually prove something for it to be proven.

[winter is coming]

15. Being capable isn't the same thing as holding political positions the electorate wants. n/t

[pnwmom]

23. The way Affirmative Action works is there is a presumption that if the numbers

are way off, then discrimination is involved.

I'm making the same presumption.

[winter is coming]

26. You do that. I'm sure that telling Iowans they're a bunch of sexist yahoos will win their support.

[pnwmom]

27. You said that , not me. They're part of a mostly white state without a strong history

of women in high political office. That's what I'm saying.

And they don't do a great job representing the views of the rest of the country.

[winter is coming]

31. Actually, they do a pretty decent job of checking out candidates.

They know bullshit when they see it--or hear it.

[sadoldgirl]

16. You are absolutely right!

It is funny how it always comes down to
HRC being a woman.

[Ken Burch]

55. It's horrible that Iowa hasn't voted for a woman.

That has nothing to do with the caucus race between Bernie and HRC. People aren't going to fan out for Bernie out of sexism...they'll fan out for him because he's more progressive and has more concern for ordinary working people.

If Bernie was Bernice and Hillary was Larry, everybody at the Iowa caucus would make exactly the same choices.

[leftofcool]

12. Translation: "Ya'll stop discussing women's issues!"

Or as bernie would say, "stop shouting"

[JonLeibowitz]

14. We can talk about women's issues. Please suggest one that Hillary and Bernie disagree on.

Oh, and the "stop shouting" smear has been thoroughly debunked. Keep up.

[jfern]

19. Huh? Iowa has a woman Senator.

Senator Ernst has terrible politics, but she is a woman. And what's your excuse for NH? As of 2 years ago, all 5 of their governor, senators, and representatives were women. The IA and NH are too sexist to vote for Hillary argument is a sure sign Hillary is a pathetic losing campaign.

[pnwmom]

21. You misread the OP. I said "Dem woman" in the subject line

and mentioned Joni Ernst in the body of the post.

Two years ago NH had an unusual number of women in high office. But over the decades of its history, not all that many.

But I didn't say NH was too sexist. I said that it had the highest percentage of whites in the country, and Hillary draws her strongest support from minority voters -- a key Democratic voting block.

[JonLeibowitz]

24. I didn't hear talk of all this incorrect demographic stuff back when Hillary was crushing the polls.

Very very interesting.

[pnwmom]

28. Hillary has never been "crushing the polls" in these two states.

Last summer they were close to being tied, and they are now, too.

[JonLeibowitz]

33. The Iowa polls were clear outliers. And in NH, she was leading until somebody better came along.

[catnhatnh]

39. And you are wrong about that also

West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine have higher % white population.

http://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-majority-minority-populations-in-states.html

[jfern]

57. How about non Christian Democrats? Or is it OK to discriminate against them?

[Douglas Carpenter]

30. well that definitely makes Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont really bad

[pnwmom]

32. No, it just makes these two states very unrepresentative of the US as a whole. n/t

[JonLeibowitz]

34. Yeah, let's cancel their primaries right now!

[Bettie]

41. Yep. Both states should just be stricken from the process

Keep them from voting because they aren't big enough for your taste. Who cares what the flyover states think anyway.

[morningfog]

35. I love the "Hillary the underdog" posts. Hilarious!

[sadoldgirl]

36. Sorry to have been so slow

In other words, the new meme is:

If Bernie wins Iowa, it is only because these voters
are sexist and racist. Got it!

[leftofcool]

37. Where in the hell did you read that?

You understand that this is about Iowa not electing very many women to government, right? You understand that the demographics there do not represent the country right?

[Ken Burch]

46. It's about falsely equating support for HRC with support for feminism.

It's just as feminist to back Bernie(who as the most progressive candidate will automatically be better on all anti-oppression issues)or O'Malley as it would be to back HRC. Gender isn't more important than conviction and courage.

[KingFlorez]

38. Sanders' path to victory is through white voters

That's not exactly a secret, that's just how voting demographics are.

[Ken Burch]

45. Bernie is gaining among POC

Despite your offensive claim that people of color aren't educated enough to vote for Bernie(I still can't believe you posted that, btw) more and more voters of color are realizing that HRC has done nothing to earn their support and that Bernie is actually more electable than HRC.

The canard about Bernie not caring about racism has now been totally discredited, as well.

[KingFlorez]

48. It was foreshadowing

If black voters don't support Bernie, that is exactly the argument I'm predicting will be used. Everyone who doesn't support Bernie ends up being attacked somehow and black voters will be no exception.

[Ken Burch]

52. No one has attacked black voters.

Pointing out that HRC has done nothing to deserve black support is not an attack on black voters. And more and more voters of colot are turning away from HRC.

Bernie has never given anyone any reason to think he doesn't care about racism. Ever. And I think a lot of voters of color are realizing that HRC's campaign was playing them.

[arcane1]

40. Yep, Iowa is thrown under the bus before the bus even arrives. Polling must be scaring some people.

[winter is coming]

42. Kinda surprising that the sour grapes are getting stomped this early, though. n/t

[ucrdem]

43. Still unless she's AWOL at the next debate I think she'll take Iowa comfortably.

Not easily, but comfortably.

[Ken Burch]

44. Are you setting up an "Iowa can ONLY prove it's a feminist state by voting HRC" meme?

Supporting HRC in the presidential precinct caucuses wouldn't do anything to change the gender lag in the state's electoral history. She's not running for governor or senator.

[HerbChestnut]

47. Iowa is sexist!

Unless they vote for Hillary...

[pnwmom]

51. They have a chance to put other women in office. We'll see if they do. n/t

[Ken Burch]

56. Agreed. And that has nothing at all to do with the Iowa caucus.

There will be plenty of men caucusing there for HRC, and plenty of women caucusing for Bernie.

[beam me up scottie]

61. Yep.

A preemptive Hillary lost because Iowans are sexizts!!1! thread.

And under the bus goes Iowa!

[Kentonio]

58. I love that faced with a Sanders win, you just tried to throw an entire state under the bus.

[leftofcool]

59. No she didn't

[Kentonio]

60. Yes she did, and it was so blatant it was actually funny.

Until the polls in Iowa closed up so much, we didn't hear a word about this stuff, yet suddenly it looks like Sanders may well win and there's a flurry of posts about how unrepresentative Iowa and NH are, and now apparently how sexist Iowa is.

It's not even subtle.

[leftofcool]

63. Is anything in the OP untrue?

You do understand that Iowa's demographics do not represent the country right?

[Kentonio]

64. Strange how this only became an issue for the op after Bernie caught up in the polls.

[leftofcool]

65. No, both States have always been an issue. You might check the AA forum.

People have been complaining about this for 25 years or more. Neither State represents the country, yet traditionally, they have had their primaries first. Why is that?

[Kentonio]

66. Because they are small causus states.

Which allows candidates who don't have major party backing to have a chance to really connect with voters and build some momentum. Obviously it would be better if they were more representative of the demographics of the nation, but they do serve an important purpose in the primary competition.

[marmar]

62. Pre-emptive spin?