George McGovern finished second in 1972 – the year the modern caucus process started – and still won the Democratic nod. When Jimmy Carter won the presidency in 1976, he finished second in the Iowa caucus to “uncommitted.” George H.W. Bush defeated Ronald Reagan in the 1980 caucus. George H.W. Bush finished third in Iowa in 1988 and won the presidency that year. Michael Dukakis finished third in the 1988 caucus and won the Democratic nomination. Bill Clinton took third place in Iowa in 1992, with 3 percent; Harkin won 76 percent.
If your candidate does not prevail in Iowa, do not be discouraged, keep fighting. It is not over until all the votes have been counted.
Elections are not about who wins, they are about who chooses.
regionalism played a bigger part in those old elections.
Regionalism is not much of a factor in this contest (at least, for the Democrats).
Are any of you thinking of voting for or against any of the Democrats because of what state they come from?
Edwards is polling in third place in South Carolina, the state where he was born and one that borders his home in North Carolina. Yet, Edwards is pretty much tied for first or second in Iowa, which borders Obama’s Illinois.
The old contests followed less the national media narrative than the ideology and regionalism of the candidates.
Iowa is much more important than it used to be.