From the Heartland, on the eve of the much ballyhooed Iowa caucuses (they're here? They're finally here?!), I bring you a new twist on that old parenting classic: who is going to watch the children.

Like when you want to go to a grown-ups only party, or, say, out on New Year's Eve. Or maybe just spend some alone time with your partner without having to take out a loan to pay a babysitter. Those damn kids sure get in the way of your freedom!

If you're an Iowan, the kids get in the way of your civic duties too! I mean, who is going to watch the children when you head out on a dark winter's night Thursday to go caucus?

In fact, it's not just parents who have to jump some serious hurdles to get this 2008 election rolling with the nation's first caucuses. Plenty of Iowans are inadvertantly disenfranchised by the caucus process due to a late shift for work or the inability to get away from home for several hours. Or, what should give every person in the state pause: members of the Iowa National Guard who are serving overseas! Yikes!

No wonder only 5 percent of the state actually show up to caucus. Which now makes me wonder, why the hell is Iowa so important in the first place?