If this doesn't prove the system is broken...

According to a poll reported in ABC News, in Iowa, the two leading Republican candidates are - Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Governors Romney and Huckabee are both way behind in national polls, both trialling Senators McCain and Thompson and Mayor Giuliani. Why do we have a process which skews so heavily to a couple of states which are so out of touch with the rest of the country.

Poll: Top Democrats Deadlocked in Iowa
Huckabee Catching Up to Romney Among Hawkeye State Republicans
November 13, 2007

Democrats and Republicans are both headed toward heated showdowns in Iowa, where, according to a new CBS News / New York Times poll, Hillary Clinton holds a statistically insignificant lead over John Edwards and Barack Obama, and GOP hopeful Mitt Romney finds his long-held position as the state's front-runner challenged by a surging Mike Huckabee.

The situation in Iowa, where nominating caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 3, is in stark contrast to New Hampshire, where Clinton and Romney continue to hold large leads among those likely to vote in the state's first-in-the-nation primary, which would come only two days after Iowa's contests.

But in both states, large chunks of voters have yet to make up their minds, meaning the results of the contests that will kick off the 2008 nominating season are still difficult to predict.

In Iowa, the Democratic contest is knotted up. Among likely caucus-goers, Clinton came out on top with 25 percent support, but she was trailed closely by Edwards at 23 percent, and Obama at 22 percent. With a margin of error of 4 percentage points, there is no clear leader. Trailing behind was Bill Richardson, at 12 percent, with all other candidates in single digits.