Lord knows the media is excited about it, but I keep looking at the process and thinking, “Oh hell no.”
I’m in Virginia – we have plain old primaries. Regular polling place, regular voting hours, absentee ballots available and in-person absentee voting available. It’s like any other election. Get in, vote, get your sticker, go to Starbucks. Even with our new (stupid) ID laws, it’s pretty accessible.
In Iowa, the caucuses are held in the evening. Welp, that’s great if you have a 9-5 job. Otherwise, you’re pretty much out of luck – no absentee. And it’s not an in and out thing, either.
They keep spinning it as a “gathering of neighbors” – yeah, I really want to be stuck in a room with people trying to get me to change my mind over who I want to be the nominee for president. How many people actually stay away from these events because they just do not want to listen to Bob down the block go on and on about his guy?
And in the Democratic caucus – it’s not even secret. (Really DNC? I am disappointed.) Seriously, people go gather in groups to indicate who they’re supporting. And then try to get others to support them. Yeah, that’s fun to have people badgering you about who you want to support. How many people stay away because they would like to keep their political preferences to themselves?
Overall, the entire thing strikes me as classist, open to intimidation tactics, and the last way I’d want to spend a Monday evening.
But they seem to like it. So, no moving to Iowa for me. (Hopefully they’re nicer to each other there about politics than they are here.)
Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female. 
The only system worse than closed primaries (which my state has, ugh) is caucusing. Absolutely absurd.
By having it at night, they shut out the folks working part-time jobs, taking night classes, working in the checkout lane, etc. That should hit the turnout for Sanders, Trump, and Paul the most, I would think.
We still do town meetings in much of New England, including every town in Vermont, but there’s an understanding that if you want to go to your meeting, your employer will just let you without any hassle. (My dad’s hometown shuts down entirely, including the school.) I’m guessing that doesn’t happen in Iowa. Gotta keep the media fed!
Good to know it’s not just my imagination. Beyond shutting a lot of people out, I think it is so open to young voters getting harassed by older voters.
“You’re not going to the D/R caucus?”
“Why are you standing over there?”
“Where did we go wrong raising this kid?”
I couldn’t even imagine running into a boss or other authority figure.