Word: caucus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...most campaigns, New Year's will involve a lot of work (unlike Christmas, it's a secular holiday, which gives candidates a free pass to stay on the job) - they'll be entering the final sprint to the Jan. 3 caucuses - though most events on Jan. 1 start noticeably late in the day, just in case. Several campaigns considered throwing big bashes with marquee entertainment, but they scratched their plans, worried that glitzy parties wouldn't seem very "Iowan" and that the crowds who turn out on New Year's Eve may not be inclined to come back on caucus...
...Nearly a dozen of his potential supporters remained, however. They circled around Thompson's state chairman, Rep. Steve King, the man who just might lift the struggling campaign to a halfway decent finish in the nation's first caucus state. A popular state conservative, King was holding court, as he often does, on the issue of illegal immigration, which he speaks of as a crisis on par with the war in Iraq...
...that said, there are no sure bets when it comes to handicapping the Iowa caucus. The polls continue to fluctuate, and it is still possible that either Huckabee or Romney could stumble their way out of the top tier. A poll released Friday by the Associated Press estimated that 40% of Republican primary voters had changed candidate allegiances since November. And that poll was taken before the Christmas holiday, when millions of Americans had a chance to talk politics with family around the dinner table. "If anybody tells you that they know how to do this caucus...
...Thompson campaign is hoping that this hawkish immigration message will help earn its candidate a bronze medal on caucus night, January 3. With the two Republican front-runners, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, both polling over 25%, a respectable third-place finish is the most that Thompson can hope for. But even that won't be easy, since three Republican candidates are vying for the third spot in Iowa - Arizona Sen. John McCain, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Thompson, each with poll numbers that hover around 10%. Though fourth or fifth place is not necessarily a death knell...
...group - inordinately white and gray-headed, but peppered with young and minorities - is laughing, having fun. Regional field director Robert Disney tells them, "A caucus is a party building activity. Iowa is blue because they've been doing this for so long. This is our chance. We are a purple state. We are going to be blue state. It's a pain to go through, but it's worth...