Iowa is the first, though. Many are under the impression that it’s some sort of bellwether for the rest of the country, flawed as that logic is.
“Many are under the impression that it’s some sort of bellwether for the rest of the country,”
It is to some extent. But influences outside of Iowa definitely have an effect on who will do well here. We are all one nation and have a lot more in common than differences.
Iowa like any state has different things that are important.
But most of the things that make a candidate viable anywhere else will be important here.
One big positive thing about smaller states is for lesser known, newer candidates.
They can come out and make a good case for who they are face to face; and get traction without a huge budget.
That would be very hard in a big state where everything is done through buying ads.