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Sorry Iowa, you’re too white.
That’s the gist behind the Democratic National Committee’s Friday rule to move the first in the nation caucus from Iowa to South Carolina.
Iowa’s held the honorary right since 1972.
This was President Biden’s idea, declaring that Democrats should prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar, the Associated Press reported.
Iowa is 90% white, 4.4% African American, while South Carolina is 68.6% white, 26.7% African American according to U.S. Census figures.
It is, of course, a mere coincidence that South Carolina is home to Rep. James Clyburn, the House majority whip who saved Biden’s bacon in the 2020 election. Clyburn is widely credited with giving Biden’s campaign a much-needed power surge.
Moving the first caucus to South Carolina is a very big, public thank-you note.
Clyburn said the president called him Thursday to say he was recommending that South Carolina replace Iowa as the first nominating contest, according to Bloomberg.
Well, Hallmark doesn’t make cards for this occasion, so a phone call would have to do.
The move also gives the bum’s rush to New Hampshire, as South Carolina now jumps over both states to be first in the nation. New Hampshire is 93% white.
The fallout affects more than just the party faithful.
As Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said on “Fox News Sunday,” “I feel Democrats have really given middle America the middle finger.”
In a progressive world, there is no middle America – only “flyover states” – the largely rural, mostly blue-collar regions out of cultural step with the urban elites on both coasts.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, (R-Iowa) said in a statement that the move would “further alienate rural Americans from the Democrat Party” RollCall reported.
He’s right. It’s one more signal that Democrats are no longer the party of working class Americans.
“We have seen a number of pushes in the past to change this,” Ernst said. “I’m glad that Republicans are staying the course.”
Efforts to throw elbows with Iowa are ongoing, and Democrats in other states also said South Carolina is a bad choice for first place. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) said the proposal “disregards the broad coalition of national organizations and leaders calling for Nevada to go first, and instead elevates a state that doesn’t actually align with @TheDemocrats own priorities for updating the calendar.”
Unless those broad organizations and leaders have the clout of Clyburn and the ear of the president, they’re out of luck.
But while state party leaders may feel powerless to change the decree from on high, it’s the voters who have the final say. And Democrats just gave middle America a clear message: your issues don’t matter all that much.
This is how the political sausage is made.
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