How do the Republican and Democratic caucuses differ?
The Republicans’ caucus resembles a straw poll, where voters drop the name of their preferred candidate into a hat, and the votes are collected, tabulated and reported. The Democrats have a much more officious – and complicated – process. They very publicly decide on their delegates by breaking up into groups representing each candidate. To get apportioned a delegate, a candidate must have at least 15% of the total number of supporters in his or her preference group. If not, that group must disperse and its members must throw their support behind another candidate. Once it is determined whom the main candidates are, the number of delegates assigned to vote for that candidate at the primary is calculated by the percentage of people in the preference group. What makes the Iowa caucus such a big deal? Quite simply, because it is the first such meeting of the presidential voting season. In the mid-1980s, Iowa and New Hampshire struck a deal whereby Iowa would get the first caucus and then
