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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 a local meeting that takes several hours to select delegates to the next higher county meeting.[[File:Caucus1.jpg|thumb|260px]] |
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| | + | ==History== |
| | + | 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. |
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| | + | 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. |
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| | + | The significance of the Iowa Caucus has varied. In 1992, [[Iowa]] Senator [[Tom Harkins]] ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. Because of Harkins's popularity in Iowa, none of the Democratic candidates chose to compete in the state. [[United States]] Senator [[John Kerry]] won the Democratic Iowa caucus and later the nomination for the party's presidential candidate. [[North Carolina]] Senator John Edwards came in a close second, and later joined the Kerry campaign as vice presidential candidate. |
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| | + | ==2008 Iowa Caucuses== |
| | + | [[Image:Iowa Results 2008.gif|thumb|right|300px|Politico.com]] |
| | + | The 2008 Iowa Caucuses were originally to be held on Monday, January 14, 2008. But they were rescheduled to January 3, 2008.<ref>http://www.iowacaucus.org/iacaucus.html</ref> |
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| | + | ===Democrats=== |
| | + | Current presidential primary contestants shows the three top tier candidates, [[New York]] senator [[Hillary Clinton]], [[North Carolina]] Senator [[John Edwards]] and [[Illinois]] Senator [[Barack Obama]] at a close race in Iowa polls. According to a [[ABC]]-[[Washington Post]] poll, Obama stands in first place with support of 27% of likely voters, Clinton and Edwards are tied at 26%<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202621.html?hpid=topnews</ref>. In 2004, Edwards took second place at the Iowa and has since remained consistently popular among Democrats in the state. Former [[New Mexico]] Governor, [[Bill Richardson]], is the only other candidate to reach double digits with 11%<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/02/AR2007080202621.html?hpid=topnews</ref>. |
| | + | A [[NewsMax]]/Zogby Iowa Democratic poll in late August 2007, put [[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] in first place, with 30 percent, among likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5505.html</ref>.Edwards received 23 percent support, while Obama received 19 percent<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5505.html</ref>.. |
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| | + | ===Republicans=== |
| | + | The Republican Iowa Caucus has been closely tied with a non-official primary event, the [[Iowa Straw Poll]]. Former [[Massachusetts]] Governor, [[Mitt Romney]] had held a consistent lead, although the race remained very close to the end. |
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| | + | {| class="wikitable" |
| | + | |- |
| | + | ! Date |
| | + | ! 1st |
| | + | ! 2ed |
| | + | ! 3ed |
| | + | ! 4th |
| | + | ! 5th |
| | + | |- |
| | + | | October 17th 2007<ref>http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/republican_iowa_caucus</ref> |
| | + | | Mitt Romney 26% |
| | + | | Fred Thompson 19% |
| | + | | Mike Huckabee 18% |
| | + | | Rudy Giuliani 13% |
| | + | | John McCain 6% |
| | + | |- |
| | + | | October 1-3<ref>http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=iowapoll07</ref> |
| | + | | Mitt Romney 29% |
| | + | | Fred Thompson 16% |
| | + | | Mike Huckabee 12% |
| | + | | Rudy Giuliani 11% |
| | + | | John McCain 7% |
| | + | |} |
| | + | |
| | + | ==Winners== |
| | + | ===Democrats=== |
| | + | *'''2008'''<ref>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=caucus </ref>- [[Barack Obama]] (38%) defeats [[John Edwards]] (30%), [[Hillary Rodham Clinton|Hillary Clinton]] (30%), [[Bill Richardson]] (2%), [[Joe Biden]] (0.9%), [[Christopher Dodd|Chris Dodd]] (0.02%) |
| | + | *'''2004'''<ref>http://miva.dmregister.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?extras/iowapoll/poll.mv+file=prez0401 </ref>- [[John Kerry]] (26%) defeats [[John Edwards]] (23%), [[Howard Dean]] (20%), [[Dick Gephardt]] (18%), [[Dennis Kucinich ]] (3%) |
| | + | *'''2000'''<ref> http://www.thegreenpapers.com/PCC/IA-D.html</ref>- [[Al Gore]] (63%) defeats [[Bill Bradley]] (35%) |
| | + | *'''1996'''- [[Bill Clinton]] wins unopposed |
| | + | *'''1992''' - [[Tom Harkin]] (76%) defeats [[Paul Tsongas]] (4%), [[Bill Clinton]]* (3%), [[Bob Kerrey]] (2%) and [[Jerry Brown]] (2%) |
| | + | *'''1988''' - [[Dick Gephardt]] defeats (31%) [[Paul Simon]] (27%), [[Michael Dukakis]]* (22%) and [[Bruce Babbitt]] (6%) |
| | + | *'''1980'''- [[Jimmy Carter]] (59%) defeats [[Ted Kennedy]] (31%) |
| | + | *'''1976'''<ref>http://www.theiowacaucus.com/Iowa-caucus-history-results.php</ref> - "Uncommitted" (37%) [[Jimmy Carter]]* (28%) [[Birch Bayh]] (13%), [[Fred R. Harris]] (10%), [[Morris Udall]] (6%), [[Sargent Shriver]] (3%) and [[Henry Jackson]] (1%) |
| | + | *'''1972''' - [[Edmund Muskie]] (36%) [[George McGovern]] (23%), [[Hubert Humphrey*]] (2%), [[Eugene McCarthy]] (1%), [[Shirley Chisholm]] (1%) and [[Henry Jackson]] (1%) |
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| | + | ===Republicans=== |
| | + | *'''2008'''<ref>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=caucus </ref>- [[Mike Huckabee]] (34%) defeats [[Mitt Romney]] (25%), [[Fred Thompson]] (13%), [[John McCain]] (13%), [[Ron Paul]] (10%), [[Rudy Giuliani]] (3%), [[Duncan Hunter]] (0%) |
| | + | *'''2004'''- [[George W. Bush]] wins unopposed |
| | + | *'''2000'''<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~action/chrniowa.html</ref>- [[George W. Bush]] ( 40.99%) defeats [[Steve Forbes]] (30.50% ), [[Alan Keyes]] (14.24%), [[Gary Bauer]] (8.53%), and [[John McCain]] (4.67%) |
| | + | *'''1996'''- [[Bob Dole]] (26%) defeats [[Pat Buchanan]] (23%), [[Lamar Alexander]] (18%), [[Steve Forbes]] (10%), [[Phil Gramm]] (9%), [[Alan Keyes]] (7%), [[Richard Lugar]] (4%) and [[Maurice Taylor]] (1%) |
| | + | *'''1992''''- [[George H. W. Bush]] wins unopposed. |
| | + | *'''1988'''- [[Bob Dole]] (37%) defeats [[Pat Robertson]] (25%), [[George H. W. Bush]]* (19%), [[Jack Kemp]] (11%) and [[Pete DuPont]] (7%) |
| | + | *'''1984'''- Ronald Reagan* (unopposed) |
| | + | *'''1980'''- [[George H. W. Bush]] (32%) [[Ronald Reagan]]* (30%), [[Howard Baker]] (15%), [[John Connally]] (9%), [[Phil Crane]] (7%), [[John B. Anderson]] (4%) and [[Bob Dole]] (2%) |
| | + | *'''1976'''- [[Gerald Ford]]* defeats [[Ronald Reagan]] |
| | + | '' |
| | + | <small>*Went on to win party nomination''</small> |
| | + | ==Further reading== |
| | + | * Johnson, Haynes, and Dan Balz. ''The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election'' (2009) very good report on 2008 caucuses. |
| | + | * Skipper, John C. ''The Iowa Caucuses: First Tests of Presidential Aspiration, 1972-2008'' (2009) |
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| | + | ==Also See== |
| | + | *[[Iowa Straw Poll]] |
| | + | *[[2008 Presidential Election]] |
| | + | ==References== |
| | + | <references/> |
| | + | [[Category:Iowa]] |
| | + | [[Category:United States Presidential Elections]] |
| | + | [[Category:Republican Party]] |
| | + | [[Category:Democratic Party]] |