illumined horizon

One might ask why use the states of Iowa and New Hampshire as the starting points to pick our presidential nominees? Well, one of the reasons they use those states, is that in theory candidates with less money can be competitive there. The nomination process works better than if they did it in large states, where non-front runners would have no possibility to win at all. It doesn't work for everyone or every time, but last time around for the Democrats Howard Dean came out of nowhere; and this time for the Republicans Huckabee was a pretty serious underdog, who looks like he will be a major contender. So there might be better places for the process to begin in, but at least starting off in Iowa is an attempt to give some balance to the race.