Why is Iowa so important?

Sorry Iam a Brit and I don't understand why the Iowa election is so important.
Doesn't every state vote for the Democrat President candidate or is it just Iowa?
Sorry for being ignorant in US politic's but hey if I don't ask I will never know.
Your answers will help everyone understand around the world.
Cheers in advance BMxx

PS Go Ron Paul (he seems like he has his head screwed on) and if he doesn't win send him to the UK please.

Iowa is the first state to hold a caucus ... then New Hampshire holds the first primary etc. Hence why Iowa is all the rage, they're just first in line.

reply to post by boymonkey74

The Iowa caucuses are noteworthy for the amount of media attention they receive during U.S. presidential election years. Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses have been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States. Although only about one percent of the nation's delegates are chosen by the Iowa State Convention, the Iowa caucuses have served as an early indication of which candidates for president might win the nomination of their political party at that party's national convention.

en.wikipedia.org...

Thanks but I don't understand all the hype then, its just 1 state, he could win Iowa and lose all the rest.

reply to post by boymonkey74


It just gives the media a pulse as to what's going on in the race. Caucuses are a pretty bad indicator as opposed to the rampant polling going on there, but still an "official" tally of the score.

Cheers all

Its not really but the way it works is the party that is out of the Presidency (the Republicans) have to nominate a canidate to run against Obama (Democrat). Each state holds a caucus or election to nominate the canidate - Iowa is the 1st state to hold their election, then New Hampshire, then South Carolina etc.

Essentially Paul will probably win Iowa, Romney will win New Hampshire - South Carolina who knows. As the state elections go along the big money donors or PAC's will line-up behind the canidate who starts winning these state elections & the other canidates drop out as they run out of money & you end up with a Republican who will run against Obama.

The problem this time is that the Republican establishment does not want Ron Paul to win the nomination so he will probably have to go to a 3rd party to win the Presidency.

Hope that helps.

Peace

reply to post by boymonkey74


And you can be sure that when Ron Paul does win the Iowa caucas the mainsteam media will all of a sudden be telling us just how "unimportant" Iowa is.

I think for the Republicans - IA is a not a good indicator of who will be the nominee- meaning the guy who wins IA is rarely nominated to be President - think NH is a better indicator from past elections. For Democrats it is a much better indicator - meaning the guy who wins IA is usually the Democrat nominee.

how long does it take to get all the votes in? I mean when will we know the result? All the states I mean?

The answers are skirting around the fact that this is not an "election" per se. Here; this is from wikipedia.org:

The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1,784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions (the national conventions).The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1,784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions (the national conventions).

The point is, this is an election of delegates to county conventions; further, the counties then select delegates for higher conventions, who then cast their votes to select a nominee who will--as the Brits say--stand for election to president (in the US we use the term "run" for election).

This is entirely distinct from the votes that will actually be cast next year for the resulting nominees chosen to run for President of the US. When I think about how utterly weird this all is, it's not surprising that non-US residents don't understand our political process....

Originally posted by boymonkey74
how long does it take to get all the votes in? I mean when will we know the result? All the states I mean?

edit on 29-12-2011 by boymonkey74 because: (no reason given)

In answer to this question: There are actually two types of selection processes that go on. There are also State "Primaries" (Primary Elections) by some states that will take place over the next few months. To make it just a little more confusing, the Republican and the Democratic Parties have different Primary processes.

At the end we find out who the two major candidates will be: The Republican candidate and the Democrat candidate. And then the *actual* election between those two comes next year.

Is this all perfectly clear now? No? Oh. Well, join the club....

Here's more info from www.uiowa.edu...

The Iowa Caucuses have been the first step in the presidential nominating process since 1972. The first candidate to use the Caucuses to gain national exposure was George McGovern in 1972, but Jimmy Carter's strong showing in 1976 launched him from virtual unknown to front-runner and solidified the Caucuses' national influence. Since then, candidates have used Iowa as a testing ground, and the national media have followed their progress.

From 1984 to 1996, the winners in Iowa did not go on to win their parties' nomination. But since 1972, no candidate that has finished worse than third in Iowa has gone on to win a major party presidential nomination. In 2000 and in 2004, the Iowa winners (Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000 and John Kerry and incumbent George W. Bush in 2004) won their party's nominations.

reply to post by boymonkey74 They make it official at the Party Convention - August 2012 but it will be decided well before that time probably. I think Obama vs Clinton went right to the bitter end & was decided by superdelegates.

Thanks again everyone for your help.
(sends out a fairy to give stars to all )