Is Iowa Too White to Matter? NBC Reporter’s Comment Stirs Debate [Video]

Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Michele Bachmann have been stumping around Iowa for the last month in order to attract voters. But does the Iowa vote matter? Andrea Mitchell said on NBC that Iowa doesn’t represent the rest of the country because it’s “too white, too Evangelical, too rural.”

Mitchell drew criticism for her comment by several other reporters, who said that you would never classify any other state as “too black” or “too Mexican.”

NBC defended Mitchell saying that the reporter was not giving her own opinion. Mitchell was summing up the views of other pundits.

NBC spokeswoman Erika Masonhall told the Atlantic Wire:

“That line was part of her report from last night’s “NBC Nightly News” on why Iowa does matter. As Andrea mentioned, when she said “The rap on Iowa…” she was referencing critics who argue that the state shouldn’t carry so much weight because it doesn’t proportionally represent the rest of the country. She then interviews analysts and Iowa voters who explain why the state is so important in the election cycle.”

Here’s the clip from NBC.

So is Iowa too white to matter? According to NBC News Political Analyst Mike Murphy, Iowa may not be a good indication of who will be chosen as the GOP nominee, but it will give people a good idea of what candidates matter. Murphy said:

“By no means is Iowa the ticket to victory. But its a win we now process that gets us down to three or four candidates.”

Are you paying attention to today’s vote in Iowa?