Although the general election is a still a staggering 11 months away, determining each party's candidates begins tonight with the Iowa caucuses.

CNN.com has a very simple primer about how the caucuses work here, and it kind of makes me want to move to Iowa. I think one of the reasons people don't vote is that they don't feel like the process means anything. It's so disconnected. You're not really invested in the process. You go into the booth, pull the lever and that's it.

In Iowa, there's actually some action. You stand with your candidate. If he/she doesn't get enough votes, you throw your support somewhere else. Your vote counts. Not just once, but twice or three times or more.

It probably works in Iowa because the population is manageable enough, but it would be nice if all states could make their population be this engaged about something that's really fucking important.

Labels: politics