Caucus Results Are "Uniquely Iowan"

The variety of presidential demographic support is worth noting.  Senior political adviser for Hilary Clinton, Jerry Crawford, noted their biggest supporters as women over the age of sixty.  There is huge support for Obama among many students, which was quite prevalent at his rally Tuesday afternoon.  His campaign staff and volunteers were young and fearlessly out front to coral supporters.  Huckabee's "Huck and Chuck" rally Tuesday night consisted of many rural citizens and Romeny saw a big presence of socio-economic conservatives.

Of course, for those tracking this election, these supporters come as no surprise.  These demographics have been fairly consistent throughout the campaign trails.  However, it is interesting to consider because the winners of the Iowa caucuses will illustrate a model for the outcomes of the country's remaining primaries and caucuses.  And the Iowa winners are determined by a group of people who may in fact not truly represent the American people.  As Des Moines's KCCI anchorman Kevin Cooney said, the caucus results are "uniquely Iowan."

The general consensus will eventually reveal itself after all the primaries come to a close.  However, the importance placed on the Iowa caucuses seem to put a heavy burden on the state to set an accurate precedent for what is to come- not necessarily who will be elected the next United States commander-in-chief but who the rest of the country will consider to fill the position.

David Frost from the Iowa Democratic Party said that some Iowans tend to "lose sight" of their privilege to intimately participate in the democratic process, but is confident that the caucuses will go smoothly because Iowa has "thirty years of built up institutional knowledge." 

An important reminder that Doug Gross, senior political adviser for the Romney campaign, pointed out is that the polls cannot accurately predict the caucus winners because according to him, "it's all about turn out."  Candidates that are in second place in the polls are hopeful that the turn out of caucus-goers this Thursday night will prove to be favorable on their behalf and challenge the polls.

The demographics, especially those between Clinton and Obama, are particularly noteworthy because of the importance of voter turn out.  Clinton's older female supporters have proven to be the most loyal caucus-goers in the past.  Obama's large student support is encouraging and impressive.  However, it remains to be seen if his support base will materialize Thursday night.  As political analyst Charlie Cook said Wednesday night, "this whole things has been up and down...I don't know why it would all of a sudden become predictable."