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The '''Iowa Caucus''' is the first major official contest in the nation for both [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential candidates. It has served as an early indicator of primary candidates strength since its first took the national spotlight in 1972. [[Image:NH-Iowa.JPG|thumb|300px]]  The caucus is not a primary (in which people simply vote and leave) but local a meeting that takes several hours to select delegates to the next higher county meeting.[[File:Caucus1.jpg|thumb|260px]]

The '''Iowa Caucus''' is the first major official contest in the nation for both [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidential candidates. It has served as an early indicator of primary candidates strength since its first took the national spotlight in 1972. [[Image:NH-Iowa.JPG|thumb|300px]]  The caucus is not a primary (in which people simply vote and leave) but a local meeting that takes several hours to select delegates to the next higher county meeting.[[File:Caucus1.jpg|thumb|260px]]

==History==

==History==

Although the Iowa Caucuses are more then a century old, they were not seen as a significant means of predicting the outcome of the Republican and Democratic nominations until the early 1970's. [[George McGovern]]'s success in winning the Democratic nomination in 1972, and later in 1976, [[Jimmy Carter]]'s winning the nomination after winning the Iowa Caucus gave credibility to the contest.

Although the Iowa Caucuses are more than a century old, they were not seen as a significant means of predicting the outcome of the Republican and Democratic nominations until the early 1970's. [[George McGovern]]'s success in winning the Democratic nomination in 1972, and later in 1976, [[Jimmy Carter]]'s winning the nomination after winning the Iowa Caucus gave credibility to the contest.

Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans paid little attention to the Iowa caucus until 1976 when [[Gerald Ford]] narrowly beat [[Ronald Reagan]] in an informal [[straw poll]] held at the caucuses, leading to Reagan's loss in the presidential primary nomination.   

Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans paid little attention to the Iowa caucus until 1976 when [[Gerald Ford]] narrowly beat [[Ronald Reagan]] in an informal [[straw poll]] held at the caucuses, leading to Reagan's loss in the presidential primary nomination.