Benjamin's Bench: Let's talk about Iowa
As I write this analysis of the 2020 Iowa Caucus – the first major contest of what is to be a fiery 2020 primary – I, like most Americans, depend on the Hawkeye State for an essential first impression, for it is our dependence on the Des Moines-led state and its voters that gives us our foremost picture of what has been, and what will certainly remain, a truly ambiguous contest. Most primary races throughout our history have been mired with tension and uncertainty, but this one – given its plethora of candidates and their myriad collection of arguments of why they are the only ones that can beat Trump – is especially important because it determines the fate of the Democratic party itself. Should progressives prevail early on, that momentum could put moderates in a bind and grant candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) an unprecedented tailwind that could reshape the left wing. Should moderates like former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, I.N., Mayor Pete Buttigieg win, however, it could symbolize the revenge of the Obama years and mark a potential third term (symbolically, at least) for America’s first African American president. Either way, it gives the party a path to take at a fork in a road immersed in a fog of doubt.
