Word: caucus
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Almost from the beginning, they sensed they were natural adversaries. Heartland vs. Harvard. Freckle-faced intensity vs. button-down ethnicity. Iowa-caucus king vs. home-turf favorite in this week's New Hampshire primary. Congressman Richard Gephardt vs. Governor Michael Dukakis in a battle to define the post-liberal soul of the Democratic Party. Last August, when the presidential race was still seven characters in search of an audience, they squared off in a debate over trade policy. One sentence from that half- forgotten practice round crystallizes the differences between these rival claimants. Dukakis turned to Gephardt and said...
...ahead. Robertson could prove to be more of a spoiler in the South than he was in Iowa. Robertson credited his dazzling showing in Iowa to God and his "invisible army" of supporters. Actually, Robertson supporters functioned less like an army than a skilled commando brigade. They understood the caucus system well and adroitly concentrated on group voting. Robertson organizers even rented buses to deliver their supporters to meetings en masse. Throughout the South and in such states as Michigan and Minnesota, Robertson has built up similarly efficient organizations full of fervent campaigners...
...indeed there is a problem with the nomination process, it is not with the Iowa caucus itself. Rather, most of the alleged drawbacks can be traced to the irresponsibility the media. Jimmy Carter's surge of momentum following the 1976 caucus was not the result of a smashing victory; he only beat the closest runner-up by 5 percent. Carter became a force when the media completely refocused on him--and ignored the rest of the pack. In national politics, perception is as important as fact. And in this and many other cases the media created an inaccurate perception...
...Caucus winner Senator Robert Dole and Vice President George Bush had thought 1988 would be a two-man race. But Robertson's Iowa result boosts him into the front of the pack by demonstrating that his victories in Michigan and Hawaii were not mere flukes...
...campaign can put enough spin on the results. In addition to leading in the East, Dukakis at times vied for the lead in Iowa with the Midwestern candidates, Gephardt and Sen. Paul Simon (D.-III.). A month ago, however, instead of waging a full scale campaign in a caucus vote he might not have won, Dukakis started to portray the vote as a mere prelude to New Hampshire. His campaign billed the winner of Iowa to be a mere challenger to Dukakis in New Hampshire. By lowering expectations for Iowa, Dukakis neutralized the potential damage of a third-place finish...