All eyes on.....Iowa?

Many people find it odd that that Iowa hosts the first U.S. presidential primary, given its modest population, size, and let's face it, complete irrellevance to anyone outside of the state. But here we are - we're stubborn, hardy, a little fat, and IN CHARGE OF THE FATE OF THE WORLD.

I learned something even more surprising this weekend - most Iowans don't caucus. In fact, a very very teeny tiny minority do. And if my trips to campaign rallies have convinced me of anything (and they truly haven't been very convincing), it's that politically active Iowans are, shall we say, eccentric.

Take the guy at Senator Biden's* rally last night:
Guy from sensibleiowans.org: What we really ought to do, is reinstate the draft. That'd end the war quick!
Actual sensible Iowan: You can't really have a draft with our modern military. They're a professional force - takes 'em a couple of years to learn the technology to do their jobs.
Guy from sensibleiowans.org: Or make college kids all sign up for a year! That'd get all those rich parents on the phone with their senators!
Actual sensible Iowan: If you were in the military, would you want somebody next to you in Iraq who didn't want to be there, and who didn't know his job?
*weirdos at Sen. Biden's rally are expressing their own opinions, not Senator Biden's.

Or at Sen. Edwards' rally last week:
College student to friend with digital cam: Did you get a shot of his pretty blue eyes?

That's right, America - your leader will be chosen by the oddballs of Iowa. Oh yeah - and me.