In reporting the Barack Obama victory in the Democratic caucuses in Iowa political pundits, including those for the candidates themselves, have missed what is possibly one of the most significant events of the day.
It is not necessarily their fault for missing an unprecedented event as they are focused strictly on the candidates and voter demographics. On the surface this seems sufficient as demographics represent people. But that is similar to saying a fever represents illness. Although it is true that demographics represent people, they miss the reality that people represent cultures. If they were looking at cultures also demographics they would have seen an absolutely amazing story.
They did pick up on the fact that Iowa has a heavily white population. According to the United States Census Bureau, only Vermont and West Virginia are whiter than Iowa. This is important in analyzing the results, but fall short of diagnosing a fever.
Historical perspective
African-Americans historically have been rated higher in polls than on the actual ballot casting. The difference between the two, polling and balloting, is that the pollster knows the identity of the respondent. Balloting is anonymous.
The simple fact shows people want others to think they are inclusive. By publicly stating they are for a minority candidate they feel good about themselves. Once in the voting booth, the anonymity allows for personal prejudices to take over. The stunning aspect of the Iowa results is the caucus process causes someone to publicly declare their vote. It removes the curtain of the voting booth that cloaked the personal bias of the voter.
White Iowans publicly declared their desire for an African-American in the White House. They stood before their friends and neighbors, people they work with, and white folk they had never met to say the African-American Obama was their candidate for the presidency. Never before has this happened. Iowa was a reversal of the norm. Obama actually received a larger percentage than pre-caucus polling had indicated -- and he did it with white voters.
The future
It will be interesting to see how Obama does in the states where secret ballots are used. Regardless of whether or not he ultimately gets the Democratic combination, or the privilege of moving into the White House next January, he will always be the one who broke a very significant cultural barrier -- whites publicly saying the time has arrived for an African-American President.
Rick Weaver is an accomplished business executive with a wealth of experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain enhancement, project management, team building, and process improvement.
Rick career began in retailing as a stockclerk, eventually becoming the Director of Vendor Development at Kmart Corporation during it's heyday. In this position he worked with hundreds of Kmart's suppliers to improve mutual processes, procedures, and profits.
As a consultant, Rick has worked with companies in various industries to develop leadership and business strategies. As an entrepreneur, Rick has founded or co-founded six successful organizations, including non-profit and for profit. Now in his role as president of MaxImpact, Rick uses his vast experience helping individuals connect to their dreams and teams connect to a common vision. Rick's presentation style of blending humor, real life examples, and easy to implement ideas has made him a popular speaker at seminars, workshops, and conferences in in 43 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
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