The race for the nomination: the Democrats who want to run against President Bush in the fall are about to face their party's voters.

AuthorVilbig, Peter
PositionNational - Cover Story

While it won't be official until the convention in Boston in July, a Democratic presidential nominee is likely to emerge from the caucuses and primaries in the next few months, starting with the Iowa caucuses on January 19 and the New Hampshire primary on January 27. (President Bush has no opposition for the Republican nomination.)

HOW DID THIS SYSTEM COME ABOUT? In the 19th and early 20th centuries, political professionals and elected officials chose presidential candidates at their party's conventions. Political progressives began promoting primaries in the late 1800s, saying party bosses were cutting backroom deals to select nominees. The first presidential primaries occurred in the early 1900s, but it wasn't until after World War II that they began to play a critical role in choosing a candidate.

HOW PRIMARIES WORK: With states voting separately, voters select the candidate of their choice. Based on the results, the state parties allocate delegates for each candidate to the national convention, which formally picks the presidential nominee. Each state's total number of delegates is based primarily on the number of votes for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections. At the convention, the winner needs a majority of the approximately 4,300 delegates. Most delegates are pledged to vote for the candidates chosen by their state's voters, but a group of "super delegates"--about 23 percent of the total--are party officials and officeholders who can vote for whomever they like.

WHAT ABOUT CAUCUSES? Some states, like Iowa, choose to have caucuses rather than primaries. In caucuses, party voters generally meet at the district or precinct level to choose among delegates representing the various candidates.

THE CONVENTION: In recent years, one candidate has collected enough delegates in early primaries to all but guarantee the nomination. But a tight race could lead to a convention fight for the nomination, as has happened in the past.

WHY ARE IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE SO IMPORTANT? In a word: tradition. Since 1952, the New Hampshire primary has been the first major test of presidential hopefuls. During the 1970s, the Iowa caucuses--held before the New Hampshire vote--began to gain in importance. In recent years, other states have tried to get some of the early attention, hut Iowa and New Hampshire have jealously guarded their early-vote status--and the attention and money it brings.

2004 Democratic

Party Candidates

Carol Moseley Braun

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