Tonight marks the start of the race that will last until November. The Iowa Caucuses are the starting gate for the Presidential election and just like the starting gate in a horse race once they are out of Iowa they won’t be back.
Iowa has nothing in terms of electoral votes, but since they hold the first primaries (I know it isn’t really a primary) they get a LOT of attention, because whoever pulls out front early gets the most attention from the press for the next week or so, at least until New Hampshire, then South Carolina.
A candidate who does strong in all three of these early primary states states is an almost certainty to get the party nomination.
But there is no clear leader in either party at this time, and the once Republican front runner, Gulian, has chosen to spend almost no effort on any of these states, instead waiting to spend massive amounts of money and time in Florida, New York and other primaries where his support is MUCH stronger. The gamble being that out of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina no real front runner will emerge.
You will hear LOTS of noise about Iowa the next few days but remember in the grand scheme of things, it’s meaningless….once tonight is gone Iowa will be long forgotten and when it comes time for campaigning NY, CA, FL, TX and IL can elect your next president, no matter what every other state does so thats where you will see the battles being fought, particularly early on.
