Once again, a tiny sliver of the American public — a group smaller than the population of Huntington Beach — will create global headlines about the first presidential nominating contest of the year. Why does Iowa — an agrarian, elderly, overwhelmingly white state with relatively few residents — play such an outsize role in the presidential race? “I don’t know if I could say we should have it.”Retired French teacher Gene Larson, 71, describes himself as a centrist who has voted for presidential candidates of both parties. “I don’t know who would be better or more appropriate.”Iowa’s contest became a proving ground for presidential candidates in the 1970s. It’s retail politics,” said Terry Branstad, former President Trump’s ambassador to China and a multi-term governor of Iowa.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 15, 2024 18:37 UTC