Why Should Iowa Decide...Again?

In the aftermath of the last Presidential election, "some" GOP hopefuls are sniffing around Iowa and New Hampshire. I for one am very tired of this drill. So the question is again, why should Iowa or New Hampshire decide who the nominee should be this time around? By the time the decision gets to the big States (i.e. Texas, or even crazy California), the decision is already made.

I can't stand the thought of another squishy neo-con who campaigns like George Wallace, but votes like George McGovern when he or she gets to Washington. If Micheal Steele is serious about listening to the Tea Party movement, then we need to start thinking about how we are going to keep independents and Democrats from deciding who the nominee is going to be. I'm talking about the foolishness of open primaries. The next primary, every Obama voter is going to vote in GOP primaries to nominate the most repugnant candidate (to Conservatives) in the field. We need a conservative populist, and one not too eager to reach across the aisle to sell out the people who worked so hard to put them in office.

Mitt Romney is an undependable conservative and certainly no populist. Tim Pawlenty is not a populist, and mostly a moderate. Ronald Reagan was a conservative and populist. Mike Huckabee is a conservative and populist. Sarah Palin is a conservative and populist. If we are going to win in 2012, we will need a populist. More importantly, we need a principled conservative.. Iowa should not decide. New Hamphire should not decide. Open primaries need to be closed to Republican voters. Why does the GOP establishment hate conservative populists? Who knows, but when they select big Government moderates like John McCain, they sink like a battleship.