Des Moines Register: Caucusers say Iowa reflects nation as a wholeBy John McCormick/Des Moines Register
January 24, 2000
Web posted at: 12:50 p.m. EST (1750 GMT)
 DES MOINES, Iowa (Des Moines Register) - More than two-thirds of those planning to attend tonight's Iowa caucuses think the state is reflective of the nation as a whole, even though demographics suggest otherwise, a new Iowa Poll shows.
Although Iowa may have once been able to claim it was as American as apple pie, the state no longer looks that much like the rest of the country. The state is older, whiter and more rural than the rest of the nation.
An analysis of demographic information from the latest Iowa Poll shows that caucus participants don't even do a very good job of reflecting the average Iowan. Those who say they plan to attend the caucuses tend to be older, wealthier and better-educated than the average Iowan.
No state is perfect at capturing the national average on every demographic variable, but political leaders outside Iowa have criticized the state's clout in winnowing the presidential field because of its lack of diversity and dissimilarity to the rest of America.
Iowa political leaders say caucus participants do reflect the rank-and-file of their party's members throughout the nation.
When asked whether Iowans reflect the attitudes and opinions of the nation as a whole, 69 percent say they believe they do.
Bruce Heppner-Elgin, a Democrat from Iowa City who does design and construction work, is one of those who agrees with the majority of poll participants.
"People outside of Iowa think that it is pretty backwater here," said Heppner-Elgin, 31. "But really, it is a good meeting ground of industries and people from different backgrounds."
Poll participants from differing age and income groups all are roughly equal in their belief that Iowa reflects the nation as a whole.
A quarter of poll participants, though, say Iowa doesn't reflect the nation as a whole, including Donna Settle.
"Here in the Midwest, we are more conservative," said Settle, 67, a retired special education worker from Cedar Rapids. "I think we have more family values."
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