For a good time in Iowa
I've worked political campaigns at all levels in several states and been to many political events of all kinds. In my experience the Iowa Presidential Caucus is the most exciting event in American politics. Its the most fun you'll ever have in Iowa.
There's something electric in the air in the weeks leading up to the caucus. If you introduce yourself to ten strangers on the street in Des Moines two of them will probably be Presidential candidates.
Many Iowans naturally get sick of being bombarded with campaign TV ads and mail, but for the most part they take their role as the first caucus state very seriously. Its a very different decision making process when you have the opportunity to meet all of the candidates individually several times each. That's why I prefer two small states going first over a national primary that would be completely dominated by who has the most money, name recognition and media coverage.
Iowa is an equalizer for good candidates who connect with the public even if they aren't favored by donors or the media. That's also why national polls are an idiotic way for the media to declare a so-called front runner months before people start voting. Until we adopt a national primary day then naming a frontrunner based on fund raising totals and national polls is misleading and foolish. The media was wrong to do it with Dean in '03 and they repeated the mistake in '07 with Clinton. The myth of Hillary Clinton as frontrunner will be busted the day of the Iowa Caucus.
Its difficult for people in most of the country to have a significant impact on the Presidential primary but those of us in Illinois have the chance to make a real difference by volunteering in Iowa. A lot of the work is tedious like making phone calls and knocking on doors, but if you're looking for a way to enlarge your personal impact on the Presidential election then going to Iowa is a great way to do it.
The caucus is a unique system. People gather in each precinct around the state. At the start everyone divides up into groups based on the candidate they support. If a candidate has less than the required threshold (usually 15% depending on the size of the precinct) then the supporters of that candidate can choose to switch over to someone else in the second round. A person's second choice matters if they like a candidate with less support like Kucinich or Dodd. And there are always some precincts where even one of the major candidates doesn't reach the threshold.
Results reported the night of the caucus are misleading if you don't know what's being reported. For example, a lesser known candidate might be reported as having 5% of the votes. But that doesn't mean only 5% of the voters in Iowa support that candidate. It means the candidate reached the threshold of 15% to remain viable in enough precincts to receive 5% of the total delegates. For all we know that candidate may have had the support of 12% of the people in most precincts around the state but didn't last into the second round.
The caucus system benefits those who don't go ugly because you don't want to alienate voters who might switch to your side in the second round. The fact that Edwards played the nice guy by not attacking anyone in '03-'04 is one reason why he did so well in Iowa. He picked up a lot of second choice votes from other candidates.
All of this also makes it very difficult for polls to predict who is going to win Iowa. The Boston Globe is the only paper I've seen with a recent poll of second choice preferences. Edwards and Obama are leading the race in that poll, but anything can happen on caucus night. This is all exciting stuff if you're a political junkie like me.
If you have time off between now and the caucus then think about calling up the campaign office for the candidate you support and volunteering for Iowa. You'll meet some great people and you might help decide who the next President will be.