Has the Iowa Democratic Party hit rock bottom? At Monday’s poorly attended precinct caucuses, small groups of long-time Democratic attendees kept political embers glowing. Although we hadn’t reached “rock bottom” one could see it from there in the dim light of a fire that long ago burned through most of its fuel.

For comparison, in 2012 when President Obama was running for reelection, also the year comparable to 2024 when President Biden is running for reelection, we had 12 people at our precinct caucus. This year we had three. Combine low caucus attendance with the fact as of Jan. 12 only 8,000 Democrats had requested a presidential preference card from the state party, and it was enough to make a pail of water turn sour. Erin Jordan of the Cedar Rapids Gazette caught the mood at Iowa City Precinct 17 where Democrats had trouble filling their delegate seats to the county convention. The caucus chair called out individuals by name to recruit volunteers.

It’s not that Republicans had great caucus turnout. They didn’t. Donald J. Trump received 56,206 votes in the Iowa Republican caucus, or 7 percent of registered Republican voters. Hardly a mandate. The state had 752,249 registered Republicans on Jan. 1, 2024, and only 110,298 (15 percent) caucused. Half of Republicans who did vote wanted someone other than a Florida man facing 91 criminal counts as their presidential preference. Even Koch Industries, a powerhouse in Iowa through their shadow presence in Americans for Prosperity, was financially supporting someone else. The Republican performance definitely did not show strength. Unlike the national media we shouldn’t put too much stock in Trump’s win.

What about the vast majority of Iowa’s estimated 3.2 million people? They were not a part of this year’s caucus activity. To climb out of the hole in which we found ourselves, Democrats need a new way of thinking about politics. It must be focused on all Iowans, not just aging party activists.

Boy howdy! That’s not going to fly with the aging cohort of party regulars!

Iowa Democrats have the right idea. The slogan they wrote, “People over Politics” is the right one for this campaign because it hits on the need to address the majority of Iowans’ needs and wants, rather than a small minority. It is not enough to repeat the slogan, check off the box, and return to politics as usual. Something has to change.

Young people have a lot to lose in the 2024 election. When I talk to people in their twenties and thirties, they are angry with how our national politics is going. In particular, the treatment of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas War has them angry with President Biden and with Republican alternatives. They definitely plan to vote. Their issues make it more complicated than a choice between the Democrat and Republican running for president. As an elder, I caution about the complexity of Middle East politics. They don’t want to hear it. What is lacking is adequate direction from Washington to end the conflict and stop the genocide of Palestinians. Such young people are not motivated to join a political party. They are not motivated to support Biden. They simply want the president and the elected government in Washington to offer viable solutions now.

“The people of Iowa appreciate balance in the federal government and the state government,” said Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party in the Washington Post. “It is out of whack here in Iowa because Republicans have been in power for too long, and they have overreached.” I can say from my experiences with young people this seemingly reasonable statement is what’s out of whack. We need less characterization of the electorate in national media and more action to deliver positive results to more people. The elder in me says stay the course and let Hart lead. The young person in me wants to upset any existing balance and get a new set of scales.

I stay in touch with some in my Iowa high school cohort which entered its eighth decade of living. A common sentiment among them is “Oh Iowa. What are you thinking?” At its core, the concern is one for the future. A reaction to the Trump win like this can only be from consuming conventional news media. Our current national and local media environments have lost interest in the common good and propagate whatever content garners eyeballs. We need a new way of seeing the news and what we are doing now isn’t it. I am devoted to Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American because it injects each day with a dose of the logic, reason, and perspective of a historian. Many in my cohort have not heard of her. Indeed, her one voice is not enough.

Donald Trump Jr. said, “A win is a win” on caucus night. I used to look at elections that way. When a party can’t draw enough people to a meeting to fill convention delegate positions, the system is not working. While I enjoyed conversations with my old friends at the caucus. Iowa politics has to be something more than a social hour. Unless we make it so, the embers will finally be extinguished. I hope to do my part in creating change we need using my platform. What about you readers?