The Iowa caucuses are a big fat joke — and Jeb Bush is the only one laughing

Jeb is skipping the Iowa Straw Poll. No matter your politics, this is worth applauding.

Iowa straw poll, 2011.
(Image credit: (JIM YOUNG/Reuters/Corbis))

Jeb Bush's heartless betrayal has sent shockwaves through the presidential race. I'm not talking about his advocacy for Common Core educational standards, or his disturbing habit of talking about undocumented immigrants as though they were human beings. No, it's the news that broke Monday: Bush will not be competing in the upcoming Iowa Straw Poll this August.

The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party was predictably contemptuous of Bush's excuse that he'll be going instead to a different gathering of Republicans in Georgia: "We don't buy this excuse and neither will Iowans," he said. Et tu, Jeb?

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.