The end of Iowa as the bellwether state?

IT IS an old debate: Why has Iowa been playing an outsized role in presidential politics for more than half a century?

As the first electoral site on the road to the White House, it is the state where the first votes in the US presidential election are cast.

Democrats and Republicans participate in a political ritual known as the caucus, in the first week of February, every four years. A few hundred thousand Iowans pick the man or woman they hope will occupy the White House after the general election in November.

In a presidential race dri…