Yepsen does a historical overviews of each caucus.

[rinsd]

Yepsen: Ghosts of caucuses past haunt today's campaigns
By DAVID YEPSEN
REGISTER POLITICAL COLUMNIST

November 11, 2007
1 Comment


The 2008 presidential election is about a year away. For most Americans, that's a long way off. For Iowans, the campaign been going on for a couple of years - long enough.

It will grow more intense in the next seven weeks. The 2008 Iowa caucuses, now scheduled for Jan. 3, will likely be the biggest, most expensive campaigns in the 36-year history of the modern event.

Like many of the previous caucuses, the results will have an important, some say excessive, impact on the presidential race.

The neighborhood meetings held by each party in Iowa's 1,784 precincts first became early tests of strength for candidates during the 1970s and now occupy a unique place in American presidential politics, history and Iowa political lore.

Other states and critics have sought to limit the caucuses' significance, but their efforts have largely failed, and this year is no exception. Some of those efforts, such as moving other primaries and caucuses close to Iowa's, have backfired, serving only to make the Iowa events more important. Candidates who do poorly here have no time to recover. Candidates who do well can ride their Iowa momentum a long way.

It's worth looking back at the history of the caucuses to understand how they evolved and how lessons from past caucus battles are shaping the campaigns today.

See each caucus broken down in a few short paragraphs at the link - http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION01/711110305/1035/OPINION