Election contest questions and comments

[Dan D]

Why does the Iowa vote have such a special meannig? Why not the Hawaii vote or any other US state vote? Does it conflict with the "one man, one vote" rule?

Have patience with me, I am from Europe.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by Dan D

Why does the Iowa vote have such a special meannig? Why not the Hawaii vote or any other US state vote? Does it conflict with the "one man, one vote" rule?

Have patience with me, I am from Europe.

I have the same question

[Sailor Steve]

Long ago it used to be that the major parties would hold a convention and decide who would be their nominee for President. The public wouldn't be involved until the actual election. Since the mid-20th century both major parties have held Primary Elections, the results of which are combined at the Nominating Convention to select the candidates. This way the people are more involved in the process. Iowa just happens to be the first. It's really no more important than any other Primary Election but it serves as an indicator of the way things are likely to go, and results in some candidates gaining strength and some dropping out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...ential_primary

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Long ago it used to be that the major parties would hold a convention and decide who would be their nominee for President. The public wouldn't be involved until the actual election. Since the mid-20th century both major parties have held Primary Elections, the results of which are combined at the Nominating Convention to select the candidates. This way the people are more involved in the process. Iowa just happens to be the first. It's really no more important than any other Primary Election but it serves as an indicator of the way things are likely to go, and results in some candidates gaining strength and some dropping out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...ential_primary

So, which state is considered to be, say, the most representative? Which state comprises the different races, wealth etc., in a manner that a valid estimation of the final outcome, actually, permits itself?

Is it Iowa?

A naive question, maybe, but i'm no US citizen, too.

[Sailor Steve]

None. The country is so cosmopolitan these days that every state has its share of every category. I used to drive skiers from our airport to the different resorts, and met a lot of people from all over the country, and the world. In 2002, when Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, it seemed like I met a lot of people from Atlanta, Georgia, and they all wanted to talk about their Olympics from a few years earlier. The funny part was that very few of them had a Georgia accent, and most of them said they had moved there from somewhere else.

My point is that no matter where you go these days, it always seems to be a mixture of all types of people. Iowa is the State in which both major parties have chosen to start their respective presidential races, and it's not for a particular reason I know of. It just is.

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

None. The country is so cosmopolitan these days that every state has its share of every category. I used to drive skiers from our airport to the different resorts, and met a lot of people from all over the country, and the world. In 2002, when Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, it seemed like I met a lot of people from Atlanta, Georgia, and they all wanted to talk about their Olympics from a few years earlier. The funny part was that very few of them had a Georgia accent, and most of them said they had moved there from somewhere else.

My point is that no matter where you go these days, it always seems to be a mixture of all types of people. Iowa is the State in which both major parties have chosen to start their respective presidential races, and it's not for a particular reason I know of. It just is.

I see. Statistics provide no insight, then. Thanks, anyway.

By the way, i find it interesting when people boast about how the very same event was organized in their place. They show a sense of locality which sometimes makes them either funny or angry. The latter, if you dare to question them.

[Dan D]

Ok, I think I got it.

Primaries are held in all US states but not at the same time. Iowa is just the first state by historical accident.

Those primaries are more grass-roots democratic compared to the old system where each party held a convention to decide on the nominee for President.

Sounds resonable to me.

So as I understand it, if you as a candidate „drop out“ in Iowa, it is just a bad start and you still can go on until your money runs out or until you realise by the results of other primaries that you lack sufficent support from the party base and give up.

The early Iowa vote then as such has an effect like an election poll, it mobilises voters in the other primaries who feel the Iowa vote went terribly wrong because their candidate did not have good results.

Thank you, Sailor Steve.