Iowans will sell their vote for tickets to Oprah?

I guess things are different here in Ohio, where we most of us make up our mind based on the packaging of a campaign as opposed to what the candidates will offer to give us. We've all seen the offers to entice people in Publisher Clearing House mode to get you to donate financially, apparently this same type of marketing is being done to get you to volunteer and hopefully to support that candidate.

As a Washington Post article, Democrats Gear Up For Final Appeal to Undecided Iowans. Obama's group was promising tickets to an event with Oprah and Obama,

"Going to the training will get you two tickets. If you want four tickets, you'll have to volunteer at the office."

Yes, they are all doing it, and the impression out there on Iowa voters is they make up their mind at the last minute. Personally I've never bought into the theory that winning Iowa should be an indicator of anything other than, you won Iowa. Caucusing looks like fun, it looks like a unique way of picking a presidential winner for their state but with the rush for states trying to be one of the first, I truly believe the focus is being lost. More money is spent on these earlier primaries, the realistic reasoning behind that is some of the candidates on both the Democrat and the Republican sides will drop out before they reach Ohio. If Ohio joined the "me first club", other states would face the same prospect.

Our primary choices are limited because of the selections made in these earlier primaries so perhaps, just perhaps, those who vote in these states should also focus on how their vote affects the rest of the nation as opposed to getting to see Oprah, or ride on a bus with John Edwards or visit a fire station with Hillary Clinton. As I sit here and I watch Huckabee on television, he's pointing out that some of the requirements that others have stated a candidate should have or drop out of the race are not even being met by some of them. The one example was raising 20 million dollars in the third quarter, he then shared the analogy of scientifically a bumbleebee should not be able to fly but apparently since no one has told the bumblebee that? He flies...

Yes, it's unrealistic to hope that some of these earlier winners being declared will not limit our choices later in the primary process. Yet, I still hope...