Advertisement

Readers React: Iowa votes. Ted Cruz wins. Readers yawn.

(Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images )
Share

The big-state residents of California, population 38.8 million, can’t abide the once-every-four-years spotlight shined on Iowa, population Orange County.

That sums up the morning-after reaction by our letter writers, most of whom live in California, to the attention given to the Iowa caucuses on Monday, which were won by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on the Republican side and Hillary Clinton (by the narrowest of margins) on the Democratic side.

Perhaps it isn’t entirely fair to say that Californians bristle at Iowa’s quadrennial moment in the sun on account of their self-importance. Monday’s caucuses were preceded by months of poll-watching and analysis, much of it tedious and needlessly distracting from the timely policy debates that deserve more attention than an election that won’t happen until after the next World Series. And for that to culminate in a state less populous than the city of Los Angeles might understandably make some of us wonder why Californians should bother to vote in their primary ... on June 7.

Advertisement

It boggles my mind that the media place so much importance on such a tiny victory in a small state known primarily for growing corn.

— John Trask, Thousand Oaks

Here is how some readers reacted to the Iowa caucuses.

John Trask of Thousand Oaks shows how few votes are in play in Iowa:

According to the Washington Post, Cruz “won 28 percent of 32 percent of 19 percent of 1 percent of the country -- 0.016 percent of the nation on the whole.” And the presidential election is still 10 months away.

It boggles my mind that the media place so much importance on such a tiny victory in a small state known primarily for growing corn. Cruz surely won’t be getting my vote.

Huntington Beach resident Richard C. Armendariz lists the reasons why Iowa is different from the national electorate:

It’s time we put the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary in the proper context. Iowa only has six electoral votes, and New Hampshire has four; California, in contrast, has 55. Past winners of the Iowa caucus like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum have had little success in later states.

Advertisement

Cruz played the part of evangelical pastor, which went over well with Iowa’s Republicans. But as the general electorate becomes more relevant, he’ll fall by the wayside. Someone has to tell Marco Rubio that third place means that two people finished ahead of him, and Trump evidently did not bother to understand the intricacies of the caucus process.

Both Iowa and New Hampshire do not have the ethnic or political diversity of the nation. Yes, the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire give us the first actual results of this election, but they will soon be forgotten.

Diane Scholfield of Vista rises to California voters’ defense:

As you implicitly chide California voters in today’s editorial by noting that Iowans turned out in record numbers, let me remind you what will be on my June ballot:

A presidential primary in which all but the leading two candidates in each party will have dropped out. A congressional district that has been so gerrymandered that the opposing party rarely has a candidate, and the incumbent is so sure of victory that he rarely meets with middle-class constituents. A list of initiatives that is long and often requires a law degree to understand.

Yes, I will vote in June. But excuse me if my enthusiasm for doing so is less than ideal.

Huntington Beach resident Rob Burns breaks from the pack and takes a positive view of the Iowa caucuses:

Advertisement

I was amazed watching the Iowa caucuses on TV.

People were excited! Everyone was filming the count! The names were on little pieces of paper, and some did head counts!

This was truly democracy in action, and it brought tears to my eyes. And I loved all the young people there too. The transparency was unbelievable.

My family votes in every single election. We gather around our dining room table and talk about the issues and candidates and figure who and what we’re going to vote for. We do this too, because so much blood has been spilled to give us this right. It’s important. Please vote.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.

Advertisement