While many Georgetown students left one assumed seat of power (Washington) for another (New York) over Christmas break, I went back to my home in Middle America, where the nation’s real power lies.

Shortly after New Year’s Day, I found out that my former Congressman John Thune (R-SD) is running against Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), giving South Dakota the nation’s “most watched” Senate race for the second election in a row. Perhaps this year, President Bush will make the state even higher than fourth on his number of official (not just campaign-related) visits during the cycle. After all, he owes it to us: South Dakota is No. 1 in per-capita National Guard troops called up for the war in Iraq.

Living five minutes away from Iowa, people do not get excited when Howard Dean (and no other leading candidate) visits us once; we can open up our newspaper each morning and have a nice list of politicos to pick from for the day. And not only do they fill the schools’ auditoriums, but one always has the opportunity to shake a hand, perhaps changing platforms and issue stances with their two cents – if not their $2,000.

Lest Republicans feel left out during the Democratic caucus, 12 high-level members of the GOP ranging from Rudy Giuliani to Bill Frist were also in Iowa drumming up support for their cause. Even CNN’s “Crossfire” got into the act, broadcasting live from Iowa State University – happy for an excuse to leave the campus of George Washington for a few days.

Some people can’t figure out why the Iowa caucus has skyrocketed in importance since 1972, and what they might not realize is that Iowa is perhaps the most perfect representation of the rest of the country. It combines its farmland with comparatively large centers of population, incorporates large, successful public universities, has given birth to many sizeable corporations and produced or gave homes to a good amount of celebrities. It is battling deficits, drugs and illegal immigration. People in Sioux City drive every bit as poorly as those on I-95. And, just like in the rest of America, Al Gore won the 2000 election with just under 50 percent of the popular vote.

But most importantly, Iowa is filled with decent, hard-working people; the kind that makes America the great country it is. No matter where you go, you will find friendly “folks” drinking “pop” and giving a neighborly smile to whomever they see, even if next door is a thousand miles away.

When Governor Dean gave his sputtering response to his third-place finish last Monday night, he failed to understand how to appeal to the common person in the model America of Iowa. Even during his flustered speech, the room was filled with mostly out-of-state volunteers.

John Kerry and John Edwards’ “surprising” finishes in the caucus were not surprising to those who know how things in the Midwest work. Excluding any comments about diapers, the two senators ran mostly positive, clean campaigns when compared to Dean. During the last several weeks, Dean’s name has been increasingly synonymous with angry; hatred of President Bush seems to be the cornerstone of his campaign. This all came to a boil when TV viewers were watching his face grow redder and redder. Dean was watching his chances for the nomination grow smaller and smaller.

With Kerry poised to win the New Hampshire primary tonight thanks to his Iowa victory and Edwards most likely to come out on top in South Carolina, the race looks like it is already down to just two men; candidates such as Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman who have skipped over Iowa since 1972 have not had much success and have not polled well since the caucus.

No matter what the pundits in our capital and the media from the Big Apple predicted, they could not account for Kerry’s success among those against the war in Iraq and young voters. Both categories were supposed to be Dean supporters all the way, and yet Kerry captured higher percentages of both groups than Dean. Perhaps the Des Moines Register isn’t as widely read as the New York Times or Washington Post, but it was only about 5 percent off with its endorsement of Edwards.

While perhaps the only yet definitive thing to come out of the Iowa caucus is Gephardt’s resignation, the stop in the idwest was ripe with lessons to learn for those perennially surprised to find electricity and indoor plumbing outside the news broadcast truck. Iowans have known all along that in the end, nice guys really do finish first, and the “rest of the country” living in Manhattan and Hollywood should realize that the actual rest of the country thinks so, too. They’ll have the welcome mat out in 2008.

Eric Rodawig is a freshman in the College and is Viewpoint Editor of The Hoya. He can be reached at viewpointthehoya.com.