According to a recent Princeton study, the USA is an oligarchy. This is not a surprise to anyone who as been paying attention for the last few decades. In an oligarchy elections are nothing more than a side show to pacify and distract the population. The USA ruling party is quite successful at it. The Romans had bread and circuses, the USA has Big Macs and elections (you can throw sports, "reality TV" and celebrity gossip in there too).

First they debate banning a Presidential Candidate, now they're trashing our elections? Gettin' real tired of your shit England.

On a serious note, between the Internet and the twenty-four hour news cycle, the influence of the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire is overrated. A top three finish is all a candidate really needs to stay viable- which given the length of the campaigns, would be true no matter what State went first, and Iowa and New Hampshire are both low-delegate States, so while they're good for some press, they don't have much real impact on getting the nomination.

Edit: Spelling.