After the debacle last week in Iowa and the reporting of the results there, even more people began to speak openly about how anachronistic and antiquated it is for Iowa and its problematic caucuses to continue to have such an outsize influence on the Democratic nominating process.

When CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled the Democratic National Committee chairman, Tom Perez, about whether Iowa should remain the first contest, Perez said, “That’s the conversation that will absolutely happen after this election cycle.”

It’s about time. And, it needs to be far more than a conversation. Action must be taken.

First, caucuses are undemocratic anyway, because anyone who can’t afford to or is unable to spend hours on one specific day in a gym or hall — the elder, the infirm, the poor, the struggling — is frozen out of the process. And those who can participate are divested of anonymity, so peer pressure and shaming can play an inappropriate role.

Second, Iowa is simply not representative of the Democratic Party in a way that should have so much importance. The Democratic Party is becoming more urban and coastal. Iowa is a relatively rural Midwestern state. The party is also becoming increasingly diverse. Iowa is over 90 percent white.