By the time the Iowa caucuses roll around, most Iowans are exhausted by the seemingly endless stream of political advertisements bombarding us and sick of people knocking on our doors. Despite our frustration, we love our caucus system nonetheless.

A woman I was chatting with at my caucus location said her friends in Cedar Falls started taping up signs on their front doors saying, “Baby is sleeping, please don’t knock!” and “We know who we are voting for, but thanks anyways!” We do appreciate the extra attention — our politicians and interests are more relevant on a national scale than they’d otherwise be — but, in reality, many Iowans are just people who happen to live in the state that caucuses first.