Democratic primary good for democracy

Brilliant Drivel

The Democratic race for the presidential nomination was turned upside down Monday as John Kerry won the Iowa caucus with 38 percent of the vote.

The results shocked the rest the country and much of the news media. The day proved to be a deciding one for the Democratic party, as the field narrowed and an unlikely leader emerged from the rest of the candidates.

John Edwards, who was in the back of the pack of candidates in a poll two weeks ago, came in second place after capturing 32 percent of the vote.

Dean, who, according to a Jan. 20 issue of The New York Times, was preparing for a victory party to celebrate his seemingly certain victory in the Iowa primary, ended up trailing both Edwards and Kerry, capturing 18 percent.

Dick Gephardt came in fourth with 11 percent of the vote and later announced his withdrawal from the race.

Dean has been viewed by many as the clear favorite after leading most polls. The news media across the country has been teeming with headlines featuring Dean and analysts predicting how Dean would match up against Bush in the November elections.

Kerry and Edwards may travel confidently to New Hampshire for the Jan. 27 primary, while Dean now is forced to redouble his campaign efforts in order to keep his presidential hopes alive.

With the unexpected results in Iowa, the race for the Democratic nomination has become increasingly more interesting and will help to contribute to a higher voter turnout — a hugely beneficial byproduct for democracy.

With the results of the 2000 presidential election decided by less than a million votes and the recent results from the Iowa caucuses having a new front-runner, the recent political scene has seemed to reinvigorate political fervor.

According to The New York Times, Monday’s Iowa primary turned out near-record numbers for Iowa with over 120,000 participating in the voting. The record for voter turnout in the Iowa primary was set in 1988 when 128,000 participated.

People are beginning to take a proactive approach to government. Too often in the past people were apathetic about taking part in the voting process because they felt as though they were far removed from the decision-making process. The 2000 presidential election proved this notion wrong.

Dean supporters, who felt confident that the nomination would be locked up by Valentine’s Day, were awakened Tuesday morning by realization that the presidential nomination would not be won that easily.

The fact that people wholeheartedly are showing interest in candidates and taking the time to discuss issues of personal concern shows that the American public is becoming more and more involved.

The residents of Iowa educated themselves and choose the candidate best for them — one who they perceived to be the best challenger for the incumbent, President George W. Bush.

They refused to fall in line with the national exuberance surrounding the Dean campaign or jump on the bandwagon to support the candidate national polls seemed to show as an outright winner.

The people of Iowa are to be commended for familiarizing themselves on the various candidates and setting an example for the rest of the nation.

The State of the Union Address Tuesday night helped to fan the fire of Democratic dissatisfaction with the present administration. In his address, Bush touched upon hot-button issues like the progress for continued reconstruction as he defended the decision to enter Iraq.

Bush touted the USA PATRIOT Act, which has been received with mixed approval across the nation. These issues, mentioned in the speech, will help the candidates to define themselves further as the primary race shifts to New Hampshire.

The residents of the state undoubtedly will turn out in large numbers after the unexpected results from Monday’s initial primary.

Dean has devolved a chink in his armor, and supporters will hope to avoid a similar fate in New Hampshire. Supporters of Kerry and Edwards can smell blood in the water and will look to come out in numbers in order to sway the vote in their favor.

Such an excitement over voting — the heart of democracy — is a sign that citizens are taking responsibility with their civic duty to vote.

The times have changed since the days when the Electoral College was established in order to keep an uneducated populace from electing a poor choice for president.

It is another step toward an election process devoid of the Electoral College. It more accurately will allow the general public to determine the fate of an election and to put an end to the days of a president-elect who lost the popular vote.

Stephen Atwell is a sophomore SMAD major.