Presidential Voting Begins Today in Iowa
After months of campaigning, the voting for the Democratic and Republican nominees for President begins today in Iowa. Eligible voters in Iowa will meet all over the state in caucuses to vote for their favorite candidate.
A caucus is a meeting of a political party at which citizens from that party pick their delegates for their county convention. In Iowa, there are about 1,800 voting precincts and each one will hold separate Democratic and Republican caucuses. Only the people who show up will be involved in the voting. About 150,000 Democrats are expected to attend that caucus while 80,000 Republicans are expected at theirs.
At a caucus, the participants, led by a chairperson, discuss the candidates, choose their favorite and then pick their delegates. The group usually holds a straw vote to determine who will get the support.
Both races in Iowa are too close to call. For the Democrats, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are bunched together at the top of the polls with Obama holding a 7 point lead.
Mike Huckabee is the leader on the Republican side according to the polls. Mitt Romney is in second about 6 percentage points behind.
Why are the Iowa caucuses so important to the candidates? Iowa is the first vote taken during the Presidential election cycle. It is the first time candidates are actually able to find out if they have the support of the voters.
In recent history, the winners of the Iowa caucus have won their party’s nomination. In 1996, Bill Clinton ran unopposed in Iowa and Bob Dole defeated Pat Buchanan. Clinton defeated Dole in the election. In 2000, Al Gore and George Bush were the Iowa winners and went on to the national election. In 2004, George Bush ran unopposed and John Kerry, who had not been doing well in the polls, won the Democratic side with John Edwards in second. Kerry went on to run against Bush in the election with Edwards as his vice presidential candidate.
So today, the eyes of the country are on Iowa as the 2008 presidential election cycle begins.
Source: USA Today, Associated Press
BLOG QUESTION
Who will win the Democratic and Republican caucuses in Iowa?
A caucus is a meeting of a political party at which citizens from that party pick their delegates for their county convention. In Iowa, there are about 1,800 voting precincts and each one will hold separate Democratic and Republican caucuses. Only the people who show up will be involved in the voting. About 150,000 Democrats are expected to attend that caucus while 80,000 Republicans are expected at theirs.
At a caucus, the participants, led by a chairperson, discuss the candidates, choose their favorite and then pick their delegates. The group usually holds a straw vote to determine who will get the support.
Both races in Iowa are too close to call. For the Democrats, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are bunched together at the top of the polls with Obama holding a 7 point lead.
Mike Huckabee is the leader on the Republican side according to the polls. Mitt Romney is in second about 6 percentage points behind.
Why are the Iowa caucuses so important to the candidates? Iowa is the first vote taken during the Presidential election cycle. It is the first time candidates are actually able to find out if they have the support of the voters.
In recent history, the winners of the Iowa caucus have won their party’s nomination. In 1996, Bill Clinton ran unopposed in Iowa and Bob Dole defeated Pat Buchanan. Clinton defeated Dole in the election. In 2000, Al Gore and George Bush were the Iowa winners and went on to the national election. In 2004, George Bush ran unopposed and John Kerry, who had not been doing well in the polls, won the Democratic side with John Edwards in second. Kerry went on to run against Bush in the election with Edwards as his vice presidential candidate.
So today, the eyes of the country are on Iowa as the 2008 presidential election cycle begins.
Source: USA Today, Associated Press
BLOG QUESTION
Who will win the Democratic and Republican caucuses in Iowa?
2 Comments:
As the article said, I think that it is too close to call. The candidates that are six and seven points ahead of the competition do have an advantage, though.
charliebCooper6p1
The article says it is too close to call, I agree with that. Though the candidates with the six or seven points ahead of the competition have an advantage
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