While Democratic political leaders filed into the convention hall, protestors brutally clashed with police right outside its doors, with television broadcasting the political divide to the nation. Hubert Humphrey would go on to win the Democratic nomination over George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy despite not winning a single primary, highlighting for many the disparity between public opinion and the political process.
Eager to repair the damage from the primary campaign, Democratic party leaders formed the McGovern-Fraser Commission. State party leaders had to give 30 days notice before hosting primaries or caucuses, encouraging full participation. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaking to voters during a campaign rally in Waverly, Iowa on November 3, The Iowa Democratic caucuses will take place on February 3, , making it the first nominating contest for the Democratic Party in choosing their presidential candidate to face Donald Trump in the election.
Sometimes, the winner of the caucus is not known until the next day. Caucuses are like neighborhood party gatherings. They are held in schools, community buildings and churches around the state, and begin with messages from state and local party officials. Instead of voting for a candidate using a secret ballot, caucuses involve physically moving to a designated part of a room along with others who support the same contender.
Because it all happens in the open, Iowans are able to try to persuade others to switch their support. Iowa has 1, precinct caucuses plus nearly "satellite" caucuses for Iowans scattered around the country, along with some taking place internationally. After the second phase is done, support for each candidate is tallied again. The number of delegates each candidate receives is ultimately based on the number of supporters each candidate has once the nonviable contenders are eliminated.
The Iowa caucus is important because it is the first time that voters around the country see how the candidates fare in a real contest, rather than just in polling averages. But the state's voters do tend to pick the same candidate who eventually wins the Democratic nomination. After the Truman administration faltered amid political scandals and the strain of the Korean War, his loss of the New Hampshire primary drove him to withdraw from the race. When General Dwight D. Just as Iowa is predominantly white, New Hampshire is Lots of times.
Historically, Iowa has been an especially significant predictor for Democrats since , when the fallout of the convention protests resulted in voters getting more say in the primary process. According to the Des Moines Register , from the election on, only two Democrats have been nominated without a win in Iowa Michael Dukakis in and Bill Clinton in In , presumed front-runner Howard Dean placed third in Iowa; his infamous scream in a speech that followed tanked his campaign.
In , when Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a fraction of a percent in the vote tally the closest margin in Iowa caucus history , it set the stage for a hotly contested Democratic primary.
Given the crowded and contentious Democratic field, Iowa and New Hampshire can and will offer up the first significant tests of whose candidacy has appeal to voters. The early timing gives candidates time to make adjustments to their campaign messaging should the response from voters signal they need to. A very poor showing in Iowa might force some candidates to bow out of the race. A strong showing in Iowa also sends a message to the national party leaders. Each party seeks a strong contender for the White House, and a good response from Iowans helps cement a candidate's chances to win the national nomination.
Being first in the nation certainly is important. But Iowa wasn't always first, and the votes cast by its residents in the caucus weren't always so important. In , the Democratic Party changed its scheduling, and Iowa became the first state to hold its caucus. The resulting attention for the Democrats was great enough that the Republican Party also made Iowa first in the election, and since then, Iowa's importance has grown each election cycle.
But to say that the importance of the Iowa caucus is entirely due to its status as first in the nation would be a mistake. Political analysts point to another factor that bolsters Iowa every four years.
Read about that on the next page. New Hampshire has a state law that says it must be the first state to hold a primary in a presidential election.
But because Iowa holds a caucus rather than a primary, it has remained the first state to hold any kind of vote on candidates for both parties since As such, Iowa has been consistently important in presidential campaigns since the s.
Many point to the media as the true creator of the prominent political role that Iowa enjoys. It began with George McGovern. His better-than-expected showing at the Iowa caucus gave his campaign a shot in the arm and caught the attention of the media. Just four years later during the presidential race, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter spent a year conducting a grassroots campaign in the state, and was rewarded with a huge victory in the caucus.
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