How seriously do Iowans take their 'first-in-the-nation' status?

Iowa has a little more than 3 million people, yet on Monday, the small, rural state will play a major role in picking the next president of the U.S.

What we've seen traveling the state in these final days—despite the cold, the snow, and the wind—is that Iowans are showing up to these remaining political events.

They care and don't seem to be taking their role in the process for granted.

Another brutal day outside couldn't keep caucusgoers from turning out for political events in the frozen tundra of Iowa this weekend. The reasons, says Iowa political activist and evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, are numerous.

"The state has gone really from a toss-up state to a red state, so there are more Republicans today, number one. Two, I think Iowans just take this role so seriously. Democrats have left; they've gone to South Carolina. Iowans want to hold on to this. You see them turning out in a blizzard warning, a windchill warning. They're going to show up at the polls,” said VanderPlaats.

We wanted to get a taste of whether that's true this weekend, so Scripps News stopped for a bite at Lansky's, where you see more pizza than politics, though it is cooking under the surface.