IOWA is hardly representative of America in the 21st century. It is a rural state that is sparsely populated by people who are overwhelmingly white,of German and Scandinavian stock, and conservatively Christian. It is one of only ten states to still hold somewhat archaic caucuses, and a system of local precinct meetings where voters decide openly,by point to of hand or by breaking into groups, which candidates they support and pick delegates who will vote at the state convention of each party. The other 40 states hold primary elections in which voters cast secret ballots for their candidates and the results are used to work out the configuration of delegates at the nominating conventions. Turnout at the caucuses in Iowa tends to be low and only approximately 1% of the nation’s delegates (who construct the final pick of a party’s candidate in July) are chosen at the Iowa state convention.
Even so, and the Iowa caucuses is where the voting contest for the presidency kicks off on February 1st and they serve as an early indication of who might win the nomination at the national conventions and who has little chance of success. They also tend to narrow the field....
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Source: economist.com