This Monday, February 3rd, the results for Democratic Primary for Iowa were supposed to be released. The problem was, the app “failed.” Instead of publicly communicating who won how many delegates on Monday, Iowa did not release the results until Tuesday. Despite the delays, it was still a momentous occasion, because it is the first Democratic Primary. When Anninna Lapalainnein ’21 was asked about it, she said, “I am extremely disappointed in this Iowa Democratic Party, this is completely unacceptable.” This was partially due to an app designed by a past Clinton campaign member, which has led to some suspicion, even if it is not actually justified. As we see with Lapalainnein, not everyone is satisfied with the process. 

Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders clearly have come out as the winners, as they both got ~26% of the votes, while some of the more obvious losers have been Joe Biden with ~15.8% and others. That includes who failed to receive many notable votes (Bennet, Delaney, Patrick, and Gabbard). One exception with that is Michael Bloomberg, former NYC mayor and media billionaire who entered too late to enter Iowa. This led to a lackluster performance in Iowa. However, due to Democratic National Committee rules changing, he will now be allowed to partake in the debates, despite single handedly funding his campaign.

While Iowa is very important for momentum, it does not represent the entire country. The current national polls have Biden- 27%, Sanders- 21.8%, Warren- 14.4%, Bloomberg-10.6%, and Buttigieg- 7% nationally despite  the Iowa Caucus. This momentum could help Buttigieg in future primaries. On the contrary, Iowa also might show a weakness in Biden’s campaign. In regards to Buttigieg’s campaign, one demographic in which he has a weakness is African-American support. Considering that Iowa’s population consists of only 8% African Americans, his success in the Iowa Caucus was not entirely surprising.

Overall, the Iowa Democratic Caucus was a logistical nightmare, but shows both the strengths and weakness of various campaigns. Teddy Devoll ’21 said, “This will be a crucial moment for American History. It will be interesting to see what happens next.”