The Iowa caucus

Certainly the Iowa caucus is something of an oddity. It is anachronistic; it is cumbersome to manage; and it is not representative of the racial diversity of the Democratic party. But those might also be its strengths. Its old fashioned reliance on talking to people rather than at them provides candidates with a richer understanding of voters' concerned than any poll or even a focus group, and it allows them to hone their messaging. That is it cumbersome to manage, despite the Dem's lamentable failure to execute effectively yesterday, a debacle reminiscent of the roll out of the DHSS'  Obama Care website, is not insurmountable. Bringing in competent professionals, and doing better testing would have avoided this embarrassing screw-up. 

And as to racial (and socioeconomic) unrepresentativeness, reflecting the more diverse makeup of the Democratic party could easily lead to the serial selection of candidates who represent the concerns of the two coasts and large cities but are disconnected from the issues of the more rural middle of the country. That would disadvantage Democratic candidates in swing states and could lead to many years in the political wilderness, at least until national demographics overwhelm the inherent bias in the electoral system towards the more sparsely populated rural interior.