Iowa has come in for a bit of criticism lately — particularly from other states. Iowa shouldn’t play such a huge role in the choice of presidential candidates, some argue. It’s too homogenous, too small, too white, too rural to represent American voters, they say. 

Despite a lot of jockeying by other states to boost their role in the 2008 presidential nominating season, so far Iowa is still set to be first in line to choose the Republican and Democratic nominees, on Jan. 3.

Criticism aside, a week amongst Iowa voters is eye-opening. They are mostly white, and there are indeed a few farmers among them. They’re a bit older than the U.S. electorate as a whole.  But they seem to be the most informed voters on the planet. 

As candidates criss-crossed the corn state, voters young and old turned out to hear stump speeches, pose questions and meet the men and woman who could be the next president. And they are not easily swayed. Less than two months out from the Iowa caucuses, many said they were still undecided. 

“I’m not sure yet,” said retired tool-and-die worker Ted Stolz, 64, as he took his spot among 200 others at an event for Barack Obama in Ottumwa, Iowa, this week.

“I lean towards John Edwards myself. He’s for the working man. He wants to get us out of Iraq,” Stolz added. But he still wants to hear Obama speak. He saw Edwards on Monday, shook his hand and asked him about overtime issues.

He saw Chris Dodd a few weeks ago and ”had a visit with him, too.” Bill Richardson was in town but Stolz missed him. He was in Des Moines when Hillary Clinton was there, but the event was too big and he couldn’t get close. “I try to get around to see each one of them.”

Organic farmer Marie Bollman, 48, said she’s leaning towards voting for Obama, but she’d still like to hear Richardson and Clinton. She’d heard Edwards. She’s go listen to any candidate that gets within a decent drive — it’s almost a duty.

“We take it seriously. We read about it, we talk about it,” said Bollman. She’s followed politics since high school and saw Bill Clinton come through years ago.

Retired history teacher Dan Gullion, 74, is also undecided — but leaning.

“Right now, today, I think I’d vote for Hillary. I didn’t think I’d vote for a woman but I’m changing my mind,” said Gullion. “I kind of like Bill Richardson. I ‘d like to see Hillary and Richardson get together. That would be an awful strong ticket.”

Gullion worries the rest of the country won’t vote for a woman. He worries the rest of the country wouldn’t vote for Obama because he is African American. And he thinks Iowa voters are well-positioned to make the best decision.

“We have the highest literacy rate in the nation. The highest percentage who graduate from high school. Even though we’re a small state, 2.9 million, we have a lot of education and a lot of balance and thoughts. I don’t know that we aren’t just as good as anyone else as far as deciding who it should be,” he said.