Hot! Iowa Caucuses

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TheIowa caucusesare an electoral event in which residents of the Iowa meet in caucuses in all of Iowa's 1,774 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions . There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the (the national conventions). The 2012 Iowa Caucuses are held on January 3, 2012.

The Iowa caucuses are noteworthy for the amount of media attention they receive during U.S. presidential election years. Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses have been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for political party at that party's national convention, and which ones could drop out for lack of support.

History

The Iowa Caucuses are commonly recognized as the first step in the U.S. presidential nomination process for both the Democratic and the George McGovern campaign, helped engineer the early January start for Iowa. McGovern finished second to Edmund Muskie in the first early Iowa caucuses, but the momentum was sufficient for an ultimate Democratic nomination in 1972 for McGovern in Miami. Four years later, the Iowa Republican Party scheduled its party caucuses on the same date as the Democrats'.

In 1976 , an uncommitted slate received the most support, followed by former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter , who came in a distant second, but won the most votes of any actual candidate. With no dominant front runner at the time, Carter was able to use the publicity of his "win" to achieve victory in the New Hampshire primary , and then to win his party's nomination and eventually the Presidency. Since then, Presidential candidates have increased their focus on winning the Iowa caucus .

In 1980, Republicans began the tradition of holding a George H. W. Bush campaigned extensively in Iowa, defeating , but ultimately failed to win the nomination.

While they have been a financial boon to the state, the political value of the Iowa caucuses has gone up and down over the years. In 1988, for example, the candidates who eventually won the nominations of both parties came in third in Iowa. In elections without a sitting president or vice president, the Iowa winner has gone on to the nomination only about half the time (see below).

When Iowa senator in 1992 , none of the other Democratic candidates chose to compete in Iowa, which minimized its importance in the nomination process. President George H. W. Bush was unopposed on the Republican side.

Both parties have tried to preserve the position of Iowa and New Hampshire in their nominating schedules. However, Alaska and Hawaii have had their Republican caucuses before Iowa in the past, and in 1988 the Hawaii victory of Pat Robertson and the 1996 Louisiana victory of Pat Buchanan over Senator Phil Gramm had a significant impact on the results in Iowa.

Process Republican Party process Democratic Party process 2004 Democratic process 2008 process 2012 process Past winners Democrats Republicans Controversy See also Notes

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Alexovich, Ariel (December 31, 2007). "Blog Talk: Why Iowa?" . The Caucus (blog of ). Retrieved October 27, 2008.

Further reading