On a frigid Monday morning, February first, the Iowa caucus marks the start of the US presidential race. It’s the first time that voters get to have a say in the election process of their parties.
Registered voters physically assembled in 1,681 precincts, including churches, libraries and other smaller venues, across the state to vote for their candidate. Though plenty of opinion polls have been conducted so far, the caucuses where actual party members vote were an early indication of a candidate’s viability.
The Iowa Caucus is unlike any other as Republicans and Democrats have different processes for their respective caucuses. Members need to be physically present at their local community precincts for the vote to have the final tally.
The Republican Party format is a standard secret ballot which is held at the caucus sites and the total votes are tallied across the state. Once the votes are tallied for each of the precincts, and then each of the counties, delegates are selected for the state.
The Democratic Party has a very traditional yet outspoken platform when selecting their candidate. Instead of a secret vote, the attendees are supposed to physically assemble with other supporters of their candidate at designated spots. A head-count is then conducted.
The Democratic Party’s atmosphere is almost like a community debate, with voters persuading others to join them. Those candidates who fail to gather 15 percent of the attendees at the precinct are eliminated, and their voters are told to join the groups of other candidates.
This election cycle has been the year of the “outsider” candidate like leading GOP businessman Donald Trump, to the rise of Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders. Though Sanders is in Washington, he has no allegiance to the establishment base of either party.
The Sanders and Trump Campaigns are on the opposite sides of the spectrum in policy but are surprisingly similar in implementation from the large rallies to outspoken and energized supporters.
The surge of Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz has become a new phenomenon for the GOP, a serving Senator from Texas has latched onto the evangelical vote and also some establishment voters to create a pedestal for a possible leading surge.
Cruz’s rise has come from the dying campaigns of once perceived front runner former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and also the once proclaimed “most interesting man in politics” by Time Magazine, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
Cruz is only losing some pivotal support from the past leading Ben Carson camp, who is giving a new outlook on American Politics from social and domestic aspects in policy, but his lack of leadership experience has held him back in the debates and in the polls.
Throughout the GOP there is only one candidate that provides positive poll numbers in the General Election against Democratic contenders and that is Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio possess a threat in providing a young and diverse charismatic voice for the Conservative movement.
Rubio has been considered as the future of the Republican Party to give them a productive candidate in elections to come. Though Rubio is the presumed future, he looks to become one of the youngest elected Presidents in the coming election, polling third for the GOP nomination.

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Rubio had a strong showing in Iowa that will boost him on the national scale and create a candidate for the establishment base to center themselves around in the coming months.
Unlike the GOP, the Democratic Party has had their inevitable nominee in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for years. Clinton has large marginal leads in National polls but has now evolved to a highly contested race against Senator Bernie Sanders.
Clinton looks to the Democratic base that are supportive of President Obama and guarantees to continue the debatable economic and social success of the President in her test for the White House.
Clinton has broken election records with the most endorsements from political leaders, pundits, economists, and activists as she looks to carry that further in her path to a possible nomination.
The former Secretary of State is tackling a realist approach in her campaign as she wants voters to rely on her experience and policies that she believes are more realistic to get passed and become laws in a heavily conservative congress and senate.
Clinton is leading with minority voters and voters over the age of forty five as Sanders base is a younger audience as each looks to take their demographic supporters to the general election for the surge they need to capture the Executive Office.
With a Clinton win in Iowa she looks to take on a clearer road to the Presidency as voters will begin to turn her way in a tight democratic race. Sanders has basically the next primary state in New Hampshire in his corner as he’s leading by huge margins in the polls.
The Clinton ground game within the campaign was the root of a victory on Caucus night as the campaign team was able persuade some Sanders and O’Malley support which created the tightest results in Iowa Caucus history.
The loss in Iowa crushes the Bernie Sanders campaign with momentum as Sanders was relying on Iowa to push his momentum and message across to create a tossup national election.
Sanders support in New Hampshire is based off of his popularity in his close home state of Vermont. Even with a Sanders win in New Hampshire it does not create the amount of delegate support for him to make up ground in Iowa. New Hampshire will also be easy for GOP national poll leader Donald Trump as his supporter leads are just like Sanders in the state.
With former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley suspending his campaign, both Clinton and Sanders will try to pick up minimal gains within the O’Malley camp.
After New Hampshire, the state of South Carolina will get the most attention as Clinton leads big against Senator Sanders due to her record highs of African American support in the state. The GOP is also similar with Donald Trump, but his lead is centered on the groundbreaking movement of first time voters and Caucasian supporters.
With Iowa results now in the past it will sure bring momentum to the Clinton and Cruz camp and bring the election to a new phase that will impact the National support of both parties looking to claim the White House.