DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa voters often don’t reveal ahead of time which candidate they’ll support on the night of the Jan. 14 presidential caucuses.
Sometimes they’ll tell a reporter they’re impressed by one candidate they’ve seen, when they've already quietly committed to supporting another.
Sometimes they choose a candidate, but don’t want to alienate acquaintances in their town by declaring for him.
Sometimes they’re leaning to one, but want more ardent wooing from their suitor.
Cosseted and courted by the presidential contenders, Iowans are more important than voters in any other state, due to the front-loading of the primary and caucus schedule — and due to the news media’s intense focus on the first contest.
We interviewed five voters from across Iowa who are likely to take part in the Democratic presidential caucuses and interviewed them in mid-September. (They weren't a statistically valid sample of all Iowa Democrats; they simply showed up at campaign events where we interviewed them.) We’ll keep tracking their views periodically up to the night of the caucuses.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20889930/