Like I said Bush had weak opponents in 2000.
Name recognition, money, president Bush-41, was too much for weak opponents to win anything except some very small states.
Nevertheless, the last two successive presidents started by winning the Iowa caucuses as non-incumbents. Meanwhile, rejecting Iowa’s GOP choices resulted in two humiliating defeats. Who has the worse record?
Iowa *isn’t* all that important, but it’s also a very long way from being meaningless.