Every four years, the state of Iowa participates in one of the most exemplary displays of democratic power anywhere in the world: the Iowa caucuses.

Since 1972, when George McGovern’s second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses paved the way for his eventual nomination later that year, Iowans of both parties have enjoyed a privileged and coveted place in the democratic process of this nation.

Iowa, at only a little more than 56,000 square miles and under 3 million people, appears at first to be a political backwater in a nation dominated by the large commercial centers on either coast. Indeed, Iowa’s seven electoral votes have only rarely, such as in close elections like 1960 and 2000, had significant impact on the national level in November.

While much has been made in recent election cycles of the migration of Iowa’s caucuses earlier into the year, this maneuver to keep Iowa ahead of its counterparts in New Hampshire and South Carolina is more than just a ploy by the state’s political parties.

While it does perhaps blow Iowa’s political importance out of proportion to its electoral power or population ranking, it can also be argued that the election of this nation’s highest leader is about more than just numbers and polls.

Iowa, with its 31.6 million acres of farmland, is about agriculture. It is the breadbasket of this great nation, devoting 88 percent of its landmass to agriculture and producing nearly 20 percent of the nation’s corn and nearly 30 percent of its pork.

The vital resource that is Iowa agriculture underpins not only the American economy, but the American way of life, and will only become more so with the emergence of biofuels as an alternative to foreign oil. The Iowa farmer, up before dawn and hard at work long after the sunset, is an indispensable icon of America, and deserves the ability to influence electoral politics in this country.

Iowa is also a place of many contrasts. Drive across this state on either of its two major interstates, and these contrasts quickly become clear. Iowa’s cities have emerged as icons of a Midwestern cosmopolitanism all their own. Des Moines is now a leading center of business, particularly in the insurance and banking industries, as is Cedar Rapids. Other cities, such as Waterloo, the Quad Cities and Pella, play host to various large manufacturing operations. The cross-section that the people of Iowa represent is undeniable, and presents a test to any politician seeking the highest office in the land.

For our statewide officials to allow another state to move its presidential challenge ahead of Iowa’s is to jeopardize the leverage that Iowans now possess within the political process. This leverage allows each Iowan to become an active participant in the politics of their nation, and to interact with the candidates much more actively than would otherwise be possible.

Without these first-in-the-nation caucuses the electoral process of this country would become virtual jet-set politics, wherein the most the politicians would see of this state, or indeed most of the upper Midwest, would be from an altitude of 30,000 feet as they passed from California to New York, or Texas to Florida. These candidates are vying to be president of all the United States, not just the coasts.

Iowans ought to take pride in their position at the leading edge of America’s political process. The hard-working men and women of Iowa’s farms, insurance offices, and factories are entrusted to be the first to test the mettle of those who would be president.

Iowa feeds this nation, Iowa insures this nation, and Iowa is beginning to fuel this nation. Iowa is, both geographically and ideologically, the heart of this nation – and Iowans ought to be allowed the political power and access made possible to them by having their caucuses remain “first-in-the-nation.”

– Ryan Frederick is a senior in

management from Orient.