After Iowa: What to watch for in New Hampshire

Santorum was the victor of the 2012 Iowa Caucus, beating the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, by just a handful of votes. “We’re just so happy with the way everything worked out”.

When does it all start? Once the doors close, there is no entry for stragglers. So if you’re an independent, you’re going to have to register as a Democrat or Republican in order to vote.

And hey, how does a caucus work, anyway?

By being one of the first states to vote in the presidential election, the Iowa Caucuses, as well as the New Hampshire Primaries will give the public an idea of which direction the election may be headed.

Do you know your primaries from your caucuses?

Typically, backers of each presidential hopeful physically stake out positions around the room. He also warned people to watch for flying tomatoes, having been tipped by security that protesters might make mischief.

The caucusing will begin at 1,681 venues across Iowa at 7:00pm local time on Monday night.

After a negligible Iowa performance, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley dropped out of the Democratic race, leaving only Clinton and Sanders to duke it out.

The former Arkansas governor says he pays them no mind.

Is that the only difference? In 1984, Democrat Walter Mondale won the caucuses with 49 percent. His campaign strategy is what it was four years ago.

So who will be first to go in the GOP? Wins and losses have one thing in common: They’re both fundraising opportunities.

Yes. The Democrats have 712 superdelegates who can support any candidate, no matter whom voters choose in the primaries and caucuses.

The ultimate prize is delegates to the parties’ national conventions. It’s hard to predict without knowing who will show up. Why is so much political power, they complain, given to states that are more white and more rural than the rest of the country?

For Republicans, it’s all pretty simple as party members gather, hear brief speeches for candidates and then fill out ballots.

The Iowa caucuses, a tradition-steeped exercise in untraditional times, opened voting in the slog to November as people filed into schools, churches and veterans’ halls, with a looming snowstorm holding off long enough not to mess up voting night.

Writing for Slate, Christopher Hitchens noted in 2007 that then-Sen. Barack Obama – who made good on a vow to turn out new voters.

How enthusiastic are the voters in either party? .

The plan is to leave Iowa on Monday night in hopes of getting ahead of a winter storm.

The Vermont senator, however, warned Tuesday that he’d probably not match the Obama surge.

This is one of the big unknowns, and an important piece of evidence that will help us evaluate how strong Trump’s support is with the base of the Republican Party.

Said Sanders, “You don’t make progress unless you have the courage to look reality in the eye”.

Another wrinkle that angers critics is the way independents are shut out: Only registered Democrats or Republicans can take part.

Yet the question, as it was in 2008 and 2012, is how many of these people will turn out to vote and to caucus. And it is possible to switch party affiliation on the night.

The moderate conservative, who was endorsed by the left-leaning New York Times, has focused his campaign in the Granite State amid a crowded field of Republicans. And the neck-and-neck race in Iowa between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton lends further credence to Sanders as a legitimate challenge to Clinton. That’s great news for the media, political junkies and anyone who didn’t win in Iowa.

Ted Cruz is projected to win the GOP Iowa caucuses.

When final results three weeks later showed Rick Santorum had actually won, it was too late.

But at its heart, the Iowa caucus remains essentially about small groups of people meeting face-to-face in a setting little changed for years. His career story, mild demeanor and clear commitment to his faith appealed to the evangelical voters who have often dominated GOP caucuses there. Those areas are more libertarian than conservative, and could be the difference between Trump and Cruz. Nagle thinks it will be higher, perhaps even 200,000. If the month of January is a guide, look for Trump with a side of Trump.