Iowa Caucus in History

Posted by on Jan 9, 2012 in Big Talk, Featured | 5 comments

PBS Newshour took a long, historic look at the Iowa Caucus throughout history on the eve of the pivotal turning point in the GOP race to single out a nominee to represent the party in the 2012 presidential race.  Many people this year found themselves wondering just what makes the Iowa caucus so important.  Some were not even sure what the difference in a primary and a caucus is.  That’s not surprising, or anything to feel ashamed of.  Today we’ll answer a couple of those questions for you. 

Iowa certainly doesn’t represent the most diverse cross-section of America.  It is, however, one of the few American states that holds a caucus.  While the other states do hold similar ballots, the votes cast by the residents turning out for the Iowa caucus are  highly coveted, and news outlets and political groups spend a lot of time ahead of the Iowa caucus analyzing what Iowans might be planning to do, and what they are thinking.  This is beacause Iowa is the first state that gets a shot at casting a “test run” vote;  their vote is considered to be a trial run of the real thing coming up in November.  So whoever the Iowans vote for is who they expect would defeat the incumbent president.  Here is the great video from PBS News Hour to help clarify your questions: