For any journalist with an interest in America and its politics, there are few more more sublime pleasures than covering the Iowa caucuses.
At some point in the 1970s, Jimmy Carter decided this heartland state, with its peculiar, old-fashioned way of voting, would the first to hold its primary.
Since then, candidates and their campaigns have made a pilgrimage to this largely rural, overwhelmingly white part of the country each year to make their case to voters in whatever venues can be found church halls, community centers, diners and even private homes. 
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And for journalists, what fun it is. You get to drive all over the place, throw your own questions at the candidates, and you often get a proper answer. You also get to speak to a lot of Iowans, who are incredibly friendly.
At the heart of it all is the set-piece caucus itself, a made-for-feature-writers spectacle of fun and and action in which people gather in school halls and vote with their bodies for a candidate. Theres lots of shouting and pulling, as supporters of one candidate try to convince people to ditch their person and join their group to make that candidate viable. The results are jotted down on a piece of paper.
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1/25 Bernie Sanders
The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform
2/25 Joe Biden
The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling
3/25 Elizabeth Warren
The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street
4/25 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio
The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor
5/25 Pete Buttigieg
The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history
6/25 Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial “stop and frisk” programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor
7/25 DROPPED OUT: Beto O’Rourke
The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by “gross differences in opportunity and outcome”
8/25 Steve Bullock
The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated “We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people’s voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone.” He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor’s seat in a red [Republican] state
9/25 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker
The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020
10/25 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam
Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the “broken” federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord
11/25 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand
The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege
12/25 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris
The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class
13/25 John Delaney
The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017
14/25 Tulsi Gabbard
The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
15/25 Andrew Yang
The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18
16/25 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro
The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US
17/25 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson
The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful
18/25 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell
One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory
19/25 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton
A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states
20/25 Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings
21/25 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee
Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change
22/25 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper
The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage
23/25 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan
Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters
24/25 Deval Patrick
The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party’s various voting blocs
25/25 Tom Steyer
Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor
1/25 Bernie Sanders
The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform
2/25 Joe Biden
The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling
3/25 Elizabeth Warren
The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street
4/25 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio
The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor
5/25 Pete Buttigieg
The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history
6/25 Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial “stop and frisk” programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor
7/25 DROPPED OUT: Beto O’Rourke
The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by “gross differences in opportunity and outcome”
8/25 Steve Bullock
The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated “We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people’s voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone.” He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor’s seat in a red [Republican] state
9/25 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker
The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020
10/25 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam
Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the “broken” federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord
11/25 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand
The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege
12/25 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris
The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class
13/25 John Delaney
The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017
14/25 Tulsi Gabbard
The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
15/25 Andrew Yang
The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18
16/25 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro
The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US
17/25 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson
The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful
18/25 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell
One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory
19/25 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton
A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states
20/25 Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings
21/25 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee
Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change
22/25 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper
The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage
23/25 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan
Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters
24/25 Deval Patrick
The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party’s various voting blocs
25/25 Tom Steyer
Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor
There was a time when that worked and made some sort of sense. Defenders of the process are correct in saying those who show up to listen to candidates take the process seriously and put them under valuable scrutiny.
But Iowas time has come and gone. What may have once been a workable but quirky marker in the political calendar has now turned into an overblown, bloated horror that plays a vastly over-inflated role on shaping the presidential campaigns. 
And last night, we saw just how what happens when quirky turns to farce. In an attempt to introduce greater transparency into the counting of the votes, the authorities used an untested app that indicated discrepancies with the three sets of data being collated. The result: a delay in the release of results, candidates giving victory speeches and getting on their flights to New Hampshire, and a wave of conspiracy theories as to what went wrong.
Yet even before the debacle on Monday night, calls for Iowa to lose its first-in-the-nation status were growing louder. Because of the state’s demographics, critics said, the caucuses favoured white candidates such as Pete Buttigieg, who went into Iowa as joint favorite and yet has much less support in the more diverse other early voting states of South Carolina and Nevada. 
Candidates of color struggled to find traction, and the likes of Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Julian Castro all ended their campaigns many weeks before Iowa kicked off. 
US Election: What is the Iowa caucus?
What people are going to be looking for in a candidate in a largely white state is going to be different to a place like South Carolina or Nevada, Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a group that works to promote the political power of women of color, toldThe Independent last year. Its a structural racism question, because Iowa has an outsized voice in trying to winnow the field.
At closer scrutiny, the caucus process is not as democratic as people might like. Because there is no private vote, people can feel pressured or bullied into supporting a candidate they did not plant to support. And because it requires people to show up in person for two hours in a winter night, it is impossible for those who are working, who are sick, who are disabled, or who otherwise cant get to the caucus center to cast their vote and have their voices heard. Last night, turnout was said to be around 15 per cent.
For Iowa, the caucus has been a huge money-spinner. It was reported that Democrats spent $800m in the state this cycle money spent primarily on consultants, television advertizing, office space, hotel rooms and restaurants.
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What was once an operation that lasted a few weeks or months has turned into multi-year, military-style campaigns. When Tom Perez secured the backing of the Iowa state delegation to become chair of the Democratic National Committee, he did so after vowing it would continue to be first to vote.
It has been a privilege and a pleasure for me to have reported on three Iowa caucuses in 2004, 2016 and 2020. In recent days, driving more than 800 miles zipping from Minneapolis to Des Moines, to Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Waverly, and back to Des Moines, I wondered whether we might all be witnessing the last caucus as it currently operates.
Last night showed it is time for something new, something more reflective of Americas diversity, something that is actually democratic. Thanks for everything, Iowa, but your time is up.