The US Presidental Race

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

The US Presidental Race

Mollison · 500 Club Member

It's better democracy. Means that voters not only get to choose Mr/Mrs President, they get to choose who takes part in said vote. Helps avoid having a waster who happens to be popular within your party being who you vote for.

I think!

Man In Black · Anime Mod

Makes sense. It's like us voting for our Eurovision Song Contest entry instead of it being an arbitrary choice that will be unpopular (even though they are anyway!).

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Indeed Hilary did win... Whats a Caucus?

Hillary Clinton has won a fiercely contested election in the US state of Nevada, according to projections based on 88% of the vote count.

Preliminary figures show Mrs Clinton with 51% of the vote, to 45% for Barack Obama. Both candidates have fought hard to win the support of Latino voters.

US TV networks project a big win in the state for Republican Mitt Romney.

The party's contest in Nevada has been overshadowed by a closely-fought primary being held in South Carolina.

Voting continues in the first southern state to hold a primary, where Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee, who appear to be the frontrunners in a very tight race, have focused their efforts.

But a win in Nevada for Mr Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, could give him a useful boost going into the next primary vote in Florida.

Early returns suggest he may have captured more than 40% of Nevada's vote, with rivals John McCain, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee clustered far behind.

Analysts say Mr Romney, a Mormon, may have benefited from the support of the nearly 7% of Nevada voters who share his faith.

Mormons represented roughly a quarter of those attending the state's Republican caucuses, and virtually all of them were voting for Romney, according to preliminary results reported by the Associated Press news agency.

Meanwhile in South Carolina, pre-vote polls suggested Mr McCain - who lost the state to George W Bush in 2000 - may hold a narrow lead there.

His main rival appears to be Mr Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, who is hoping for the support of South Carolina's evangelical Christians.

The result is being keenly watched because the Republican winner in South Carolina has gone on to become the party's nominee in every presidential election since 1980.

Hispanic vote

In Nevada, Mrs Clinton has had backing from influential politicians in the state's Hispanic community, which makes up about 25% of the population, while Mr Obama has the support of a powerful local union organisation.

Many of their target voters work in the casinos and resorts of Las Vegas and for the first time, nine casinos held Democratic caucuses to try to make it easier for workers to vote.

The BBC's Lourdes Heredia, at a caucus in the Luxor casino in Las Vegas, said the atmosphere was like that of a football match.

Supporters of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards were grouped on different sides of the room, exchanging loud cheers and shouts, waiting to be counted.

The candidates' support is calculated according to how many people gather in each corner.

The Obama campaign had handed out red T-shirts saying "Make the Vegas dream the American dream", our correspondent said.

Mrs Clinton's supporters all wore white T-shirts saying "I support my union, I support Hillary" - a reference to a row over union support in the run-up to the vote.

Maribel Fuarez told the BBC: "I have always supported Hillary because she's a woman and it's time we had a woman president.

"I feel Bill Clinton was a good leader for the Latino community and even though my union supports Obama, I haven't changed my mind. My vote is my vote and I'm proud of it."

'Embarrassed'

In Nevada's Republican caucuses only Mr Romney had done any serious campaigning, with the other front-runners instead preferring to focus on South Carolina.

Like their Democratic counterparts in Nevada, the Republican presidential hopefuls have focused on the economy in their final campaigning in South Carolina, which is losing many manufacturing jobs.

Mr McCain, who won in New Hampshire, partly blamed his party for America's woes, saying to voters: "As a Republican, I stand before you embarrassed. Embarrassed that we let that spending get out of control."

The other main contenders in South Carolina appear to be the other two men who have already won a primary - Mr Huckabee and Mr Romney.

Correspondents say Mr Huckabee is hoping for the support of the 53% of registered Republicans, who describe themselves as white evangelical Christians - a group that was instrumental in his victory in the Iowa caucuses last month.

However, Mr Huckabee has been under fire for remarks apparently equating same-sex marriage with bestiality.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who has been focusing heavily on South Carolina, is trailing Mr Romney in fourth place in the opinion polls.

Observers say Mr Thompson needs a good result in the state to have a chance of remaining a viable contender for the Republican nomination.

The former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, has virtually ignored the early races to concentrate on the bigger prize of Florida at the end of the month. The Democrats will hold their primary in South Carolina on 26 January.

The ballots precede Super Tuesday, when 22 states will hold polls on 5 February.

braxious · 500 Club Member

as far as i know the caucus is ( like our by - elections) but its all the memebers of the same party trying to get the nod from the locals. im sure if im wrong some one will correct me

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

Not really much to talk about in this thread actually. Basically, it's Hillary or Barack's race to win. Read my lips: NO REPUBLICAN WILL WIN THE PRESIDENCY THIS YEAR!

I'm more of a Barack guy, mainly because he is the only candidate that seems REAL. There are other reasons, of course, but I don't like to push my political views on other people. Especially people who could care less!

By the way,

Caucus-a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy; also : a group of people united to promote an agreed-upon cause

Basically, it's what DM said at the beginning. The parties pick the candidates. This method is only used in 12 stats (Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Wyoming, New Hampshire). Iowa is the only one that really has any say in determining the candidate for presidency.