Democratic Incompetency, Biden's Big Break, and How Mike Bloomberg Won the Iowa Caucus

By Malcomb Haming

Like many political junkies, I was up quite late on Monday night awaiting the results of Democratic Iowa Caucus. I was annoyed, but not necessarily surprised, by the incompetence displayed by Democratic Party of Iowa. They had months, if not years, to prepare for this moment. Turnout was nearly identical to 2016 levels. THEY’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER 50 YEARS. I was upset as a conservative who has never even been to Iowa. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how frustrated Iowa campaign staffers and volunteers were. It also baffles me how the party that is increasing dominated by younger voters has such technological ineptness, and I’m not just talking about the train wreck of an app the precinct captains in Iowa were unable to use. The way the Democratic National Committee collected and facilitated voter data in 2016 was vastly inferior to the RNC’s, and while the Russian hacking into the DNC servers was unethical, stronger cybersecurity technology could have avoided the embarrassing stain left behind. People forget that there were attempts to hack into the RNC servers that were unsuccessful. The Nevada Caucus, which takes place on February 22^nd, was scheduled to use the very same app that failed in the Iowa Caucus, but scrapped those plans the day after the abject catastrophe in Iowa. If the Democratic Party’s technology apparatus continues to appear as if it’s being run by members of the silent generation, it’s bound to damage the democratic nominee regardless of who it is. 

Now that I’ve vented my frustration and shared my thoughts on the situation in Iowa, the question left to answer is what effect will this have on outcome of the Presidential primary process? As of my writing of this piece, 71% of the vote has been reported with Sanders and Buttigieg running neck and neck for first place, Warren is the clear third place finisher, and Biden is a distant fourth. Had the Iowa Caucus gone as smoothly as the previous twelve, this would have been a terrible night for Biden. Countless political obituaries would be written across the media landscape burying the Biden campaign, and that perception could’ve easily transformed into reality. However, that scenario didn’t occur. Because the results were inexplicably delayed, I believe many Americans are lacking confidence in the entire process in Iowa and thus the results become much less important than they would otherwise be. Even then, Biden was much more honest about how he performed than some other candidates (*cough* Buttigieg *cough*). On the performance he said, "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. We took a gut punch in Iowa," Biden said. "The whole process took a gut punch." I have to say I’m happy for Biden’s good fortune. He’s gone through more random tragedy than anyone else running for president. I think he was far past due for a lucky break. 

Finally, I think it’s important to note that the only candidate not in Iowa on Monday had the best night of them all: Mike Bloomberg. After the Iowa debacle he’s pledged to double advertisement spending, and the DNC just changed their debate rules which will likely allow Bloomberg to appear on the debate stage for the first time. He’s currently polling fourth nationally at an average of 10.6%. If Biden is unable to win any of the next three primaries, especially South Carolina, Bloomberg could easily emerge as the leading moderate option in the primary. There is a lot of speculation here, but I think it’s time to start taking the former mayor of New York City, and his tens of billions of dollars, much more seriously. 

Malcomb Haming is a McConnell Scholar in the Class of 2022. He is studying political science and history at the University of Louisville.