Let’s give Iowa a break.

Iowa has long been held as “too old, too rural, and too white” to reflect the nation. Ignored or forgotten is the significant role this “too old, too rural, too white” state played in launching a young, urban, African-American on the road to the White House. Pragmatic African Americans favored Hillary Clinton in 2008 — until Obama won in “too white” Iowa.

But that was then. The question now, highlighted by its caucus troubles, is “What have you done lately.” 

Iowa’s caucus system is unique, complex and interesting with its involvement of citizens in its open format. This year, they intended to provide additional layers of information, reported via an electronic app. 

The idea was well-intentioned, ambitious and, unfortunately, unrealistic given that caucuses are managed by mostly elderly precinct chairs and volunteers uncomfortable with electronic gear.

When reporting failed and the media stars didn’t get their instant gratification, they viciously pounced, condemning everything having to do with Iowa and its politics.

Chris Matthews went completely ape. Instead of giving a nod to unpaid volunteers trapped by failed technology, he continued screaming for days at “Iowa’s incompetence.”

NBC’s Brian Williams was incensed, livid, that he couldn’t follow his preordained script. He smugly informed his audience that “Iowa is still looking for votes under hay bales.” (Why does much of Middle America despise big media?)

Frenzied media anchors parroted Republican nonsense, asking Sanders, “How can you reform healthcare when Democrats can’t even run a caucus?” Incompetent journalism — reforming national healthcare has absolutely nothing to do with elderly volunteers stymied by an app that was overloaded with information that journalists would have, actually have, welcomed and used. 

Iowa caucuses were ridiculed as “too complex.” Nevertheless, Chuck Todd used additional information gleaned by those caucuses on his recent “Meet the Press” show. Instead of at least acknowledging the caucuses for information used on his show, he accused Iowa of being “unable to count.” 

Former Senator Claire McCaskill compared Iowa’s caucus system to Republican voter suppression. C’mon Claire, you’re good, but how about using your influence to fight Republican voter suppression instead of turning Iowa caucuses into a false equivalence?

Senator Dick Durban at least had the courtesy to commend people of Iowa before lecturing them on their caucus system. C’mon Dick, you’re also good, but Iowans don’t need lectures from a state that has far more problems than Iowa.

My sometimes favorite, Frank Rich, ridiculed Iowa for having been bamboozled by the con artist in “The Music Man,” and for giving us Joni Ernst who once castrated hogs.

C’mon Frank, those are clever lines. But it was your New York that gave us Donald Trump who bamboozled New York forever. Where the hell were New York’s Department of Tax and Rev all this time? Asleep at the switch?

OK, the Iowa caucuses didn’t produce instant results, and inconvenienced the media. But it wasn’t the national catastrophe that it was made out to be. Sure, bad for Iowa, but let’s put it in perspective.

One of the best in a narrow field of good media stars is MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki. While his colleagues whined, Steve calmly reminded us that caucuses don’t select the candidate, but rather, delegates that support the candidate. Yes, it’s necessary to get an accurate vote count. But even if a recanvas changes results by a couple of votes in a couple of precincts, it’s highly unlikely to affect the final outcome of the national convention at all, especially from a small state like Iowa.

At the National Democratic Convention, 1,990 pledged delegate votes are required for presidential nomination. Iowa is allotted 41 pledged delegates (a miniscule percentage of the 3,979 total) apportioned based on caucus results. A marginal change in delegate allocation from correction of a few precinct votes has no significant effect going forward.

Caucus results of early small states like Iowa and New Hampshire are more about identifying momentum than apportioning a miniscule fraction of convention delegates. Sure, important to the candidates. But let’s calm down. 

Even Iowa’s incomplete early returns clearly showed Sanders and Buttigieg leading the pack in a virtual tie, with disappointing numbers for Warren, and especially for Biden. The media went crazy over lack of a “clear winner” and incomplete numbers. Even the incomplete early returns yielded the relevant information, strength of Buttigieg and disappointment for Biden.

OK, refine the numbers, but it will change nothing consequential regarding strength and momentum of the candidates going forward. Besides, voters of New Hampshire and subsequent states surely think for themselves.

Media clones cannot resist attaching a pejorative adjective when mentioning Iowa’s caucuses. These same critics are doubtlessly ignorant of the fact that Iowa, often dismissed as a “flyover state,” is among the Nation’s least corrupt, and one of few that have solved the gerrymandering problem. 

Presidential candidates were once thoroughly vetted and selected by “Party bosses.” A Donald Trump type outsider could never be approved under that system — an advantage or disadvantage depending on point of view.

Selection by party bosses was not considered (small d) democratic enough. States have moved to caucuses and, increasingly, to primaries. Caucuses are now criticized as too exclusionary, and complex. 

Former RNC Chair, Michael Steele, suggests possibly moving directly to multi-state primaries resembling Super Tuesday with 16 states voting simultaneously. This means big money and media blitz, great for media profits. Is this better than a candidate having to first face real people in bars and diners?

Is it an improvement when a Michael Bloomberg can avoid Iowa — and New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada — and go directly to Super Tuesday with his mega-millions? 

Iowa’s ambitious attempt for additional caucus information — it is being used by the media — and its reporting breakdown, will give critics the ammunition with which to end Iowa’s run.

Meanwhile, Iowa got a bad rap. Williams, Matthews, Todd, and the rest of the pundits guilty of piling on, owe Iowa, especially its citizen volunteers, one giant apology.

— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times.