Review of "Corn Poll: A Novel of the Iowa Caucuses," by Zachary Michael Jack

 Review of

Corn Poll: A Novel of the Iowa Caucuses, by Zachary Michael Jack, ISBN 9781888160895

Five out of five stars

Humorous, engaging story about grass roots politics

 Iowa has been the first state in the nation where citizens vote their presidential preferences for decades. The caucuses first rose to national prominence when Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter was the leader in the 1976 caucuses. In 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama won, demonstrating that he could get substantial support in an overwhelmingly white state.

 The record for the Republican party is more mixed. George H. W. Bush won in 1980, and evangelist Pat Robertson finished second in 1988. Some very forgettable people have made a respectable showing on the Republican side, but only once has the caucus winner on the Republican side won the presidency. It is a time of grass roots politics at the basic level, a current candidate recently bragged about visiting all 99 Iowa counties.

 This book is about the Republican side of the Iowa caucuses. As a lifelong Iowan and a caucus-going political junkie, I recognized much of the mechanics of the process. Including some of the rather unusual acts that the candidate and their supporters engage in. Followers of the caucuses will recognize past candidates, even though their names have been scrambled.

 There is a collection of very quirky characters, from the editor/owner of a small town paper to local officials of the Republican party, townspeople with an agenda, grizzled political reporters, a longtime political science professor and two out-of-town reporters that clash and mesh, often both in the same 10 seconds. The dialog is very snappy and witty, often funny, although it sometimes takes a few seconds to get the joke. The author even manages to include references to the trophy that goes to the winner of the annual Iowa – Iowa State football game.

This is a great book about a state that has for decades been the first step in the process of selecting the next president of the United States. The author captures the controlled chaos that takes place every four years in Iowa.

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