Presidential Candidates

I noticed that there weren't really on threads on this....so...I decided to make one

With the Iowa Caucus coming up in only a few days, what candidate do you support? And who do you think will win?

Living in Iowa, every other commercial is political, so it kind of gets old, but you get used to it. For the most part, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the candidates policies based on what they talk about in their commercials, so I still don't have that great of an idea of who I want to support.

For Republicans, I'm pretty much sure that Huckabee has it won. People around here were never big Romney fans, and the rest of the Republicans aren't really trying hard in Iowa, so Huckabee is the obvious favorite.

With Democrats, its less clear. I'm not sure whether Hilary or Obama is leading, but I know that Edwards is third. There is a lot of support for Hilary, but a lot of people hate her, so I don't think that she would be the best candidate to go up against a Republican. Everybody seems to like Obama, but he has a smaller devout following than Hilary. And Edwards is quietly catching up the the front runners.

So, I predict that Huckabee wins the Republican nomination and Edwards wins the Democratic nomination in Iowa(I say that because of the way the Caucus system works, his supporters could sway Obama and Hilary supporters to his side, even if he isn't what the majority of Iowans want).

For the rest of the primaries, who knows. I think we'll have a better idea after Iowa and New Hampshire tho.

 

I do too! I laugh everytime I see his commerical. Eventhough the commerical itself isn't funny....its just him

 

^I've decided that I am supporting Edwards too. But don't give up hope for him, its still close in Iowa. "As goes Iowa, so goes the nation." Remeber Kerry? Nobody thought he had a chance until he won in Iowa.

Three days left. Kind of exciting.

 

Hmm...I will try to explain. Its confusing even living in the US all your life.

Ok, some basics..a president is elected every four years, and each president can only serve two terms.

The year before the actual election, we hold a primary election to chose what candidates from each party (Republican, Democrat) will get to run in the main election. Unlike the main election, the states hold their elections on different days. Iowa has always been first, and New Hampshire second. Iowa doesn't have an actual voting election, we have causcuses. Peopel gather in a location based on their precinct(did I spell that right?). There, they split into groups based on what candidate they support and try to convince others to join their group. Once one candidate has a certain percent of support(not sure what it is), he(or she) wins that precinct. Then we move on to county and district and then state. There is some confusing formula that goes with it that I don't understand, but eventually somebody is declared the winner.

After the primary election is over and the two main candidates are selected, we move on to the main election, which takes place in November(I think...)of the next year. Everybody votes on the same day, and there are no caucuses, unlike the primary election.

Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes, based on population and the amount of representation in congress. The winner of each state gets the number of electoral votes of that state to go to the electoral college. Whoever has the most electoral votes, not popular votes, wins the election.

I doubt I did a great job of explaining it, but you should have gotten the general idea.

 

CNN projecting that Huckabee will win Iowa, based on current votes from the Republican causcuses. Damn...I guess it was to be expected.

Typical Republican avoiding Wolf's questions and bashing Democrats on CNN right now....

Obama currently leads Democrats(YAY!). Hilary in third. Edwards second.

I have a good feeling about November. None of the Republican candidates are going to be able to unite their party as much as Obama/Edwards(I worry about Hilary tho). And they won't have their usual "moral advantage", especially if Guiliani wins it.

 

^Thanks for the link!

 

CNN Projects that Obama will win Iowa!!

Well, I'm happy now!

I'm kind of proud of our state. We're often thought of as ignorant and close-minded, because of where we live and our small population, and I think its great we've come out to support an African-American candidate.

Hilary in third. NOT good for her campaign.