Iowa: I still don't get it

OK, so the results are in from Iowa -- Obama and Huckabee with resounding victories. And the race to New Hampshire is on.

But I still don't understand why the citizens from one state like Iowa -- one small, Midwestern, lily-white state -- should have so much power to determine the course of the presidential campaign. It just makes no sense. If you want to let the people have some kind of voice heading into the conventions, then schedule a nationwide primary in the spring and take the voters' pulse. But to let Iowans tell the rest of us that Obama and Huckabee are the candidates to beat is just madness. Madness, I tell you!

By the by, Obama has to be thrilled to see Huckabee win here. If Obama pulls off the Democratic nomination, the biggest criticism to be levied against him is his inexperience. Well, it's not like Two-Buck Huck has any foreign policy chops to fall back on. And for the rest of us Americans, this could be a sign that we'll finally have a campaign based on ideas, not just dirty political tricks. I for one would welcome that.