Brief remarks on American "democracy" in Iowa

As you both know, I am not a "Conservative" or a big-L "Liberal," so I have no horse in popular presidential politics (my 'libertarianism' sways between philosophical anarchism, classical liberalism, and public reason liberalism).  That being said, I do have thoughts about legitimate democratic authority (long story short, it's based on individual autonomy, associative relationships, political equality, proportionality (read: it's a very rare thing)). So when I see a "democratic" procedure in which a little less than 75% of the voting "public" vote for "some other guy than Candidate X" and yet Candidate X claims some sort of "victory,"  I sigh and further recoil into my own world of complete disenchantment, wondering if even progress towards the democratic ideal is possible.