In honor of my state of origin, site of the first caucuses, I'd like to clear up something about "Iowa Nice." Misbegotten coastal elites increasingly use the term to describe the Solonic politesse of the denizens of the state. But there is no "Iowa Nice." There has been a "Minnesota Nice" for decades, but although they might look like two flyover states near each other to some, they're actually pretty different. Minnesota has trees and lakes, Iowa is pancake flat. Iowans sound like John Wayne and Walter Cronkite, Minnesotans sound like the Swedish chef. The states make jokes about each other. They have a football rivalry. There's not an Iowa Nice, there's only a modest Iowan wisdom that may or may not be reflected in the byzantine results of the caucuses tonight.
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1. Posted by Simon Lester on January 3, 2008 @ 12:09 | Permalink
Given your vast expertise on Iowa and Iowans, do you have any predictions for the caucus results?
Simon
2. Posted by david on January 3, 2008 @ 12:50 | Permalink
I will make some guaranteed wrong predictions. It is good enough weather, so Romney and Obama.
3. Posted by Simon Lester on January 3, 2008 @ 13:37 | Permalink
I have absolutely no connection to Iowa, which will be my excuse when my predictions are way off: Obama by a small margin, and Huckabee by a very small margin.
4. Posted by Wrong on Romney on January 4, 2008 @ 3:14 | Permalink
Obama crushes Hillary!
5. Posted by David Zaring on January 4, 2008 @ 9:07 | Permalink
This is why I stick to the regulatory state.
6. Posted by Jake on January 4, 2008 @ 21:53 | Permalink
But, cooked up on a late summer evening, corn on the cob grown in southern Minnesota is far sweeter than Iowa's product. Most likely this explains why Iowans are such big boosters of cornfed ethanol production.
7. Posted by David Zaring on January 7, 2008 @ 22:45 | Permalink
Too late in the game I accuse Jake of totally being wrong about the merits of the corn. Iowans like the ethanol because they want to share the sweetness of their non-sweeter corn. Minnesota corn is also good - if you're a buyer for the Del Monte canning corporation. Price is so right.
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