The next president of the United States

Ah yes...... we are embroiled in another "Race for the White House" as it has become termed in the news media. We, the democratic voting public, cast our vote and we nominate our candidate and then when he/she runs against the opposing party nominee, we vote in November and elect our president, right?? Sigh...... I haven't the time to explain it fully, suffice it to say, that we vote and our votes send delegates to both the convention and then (following the nomination) we vote to send delegates to the electoral college to vote for president. So, you do not vote your president into office, your representatives do - thus, we are a democratic republic as opposed to a true democracy. Anyone who tells you otherwise has clearly not read the constitution - but then again, who has these days. You don't have to read to graduate high school anymore, so odds are not good that the fine folks walking American streets have even heard of the constitution.
On to Iowa - a few facts to consider.

1. On the republican side, Guiliani (leading in the national polls) gave up on Iowa weeks ago and has moved his campaign on to Florida. That should say something - a man with a legitimate shot at being elected president focuses somewhere else?? Obviously, not the earth shattering event that the news media makes it out to be.
2. In 2004, approximately 130,000 Iowans cast votes in the primaries while 1.2 million voted in the general election. So, it sounds like Iowa is not decided at the present time. I mean, lets face it, right around %10 of the state spoke yesterday. Conclusive?? I think not
3. As stated earlier, Iowa makes up less than %3 of the vote in order to win yourself a nomination. While it is the first state to vote, it is little else than the first state to vote.
4. One thing from Iowa that does intrigue me is the exit polls. 8 in 10 republicans who voted for Mike Huckabee did so because they were born again Christians. Barrack Obama handily defeated Hilary Clinton in votes by people under the age of 30. Do these facts bore you?? Sorry

So, what is overall takeaway from Iowa?? Don't buy into everything you read/watch in news reports. Remember that news is about ratings/advertisements and who buys your paper/magazine - it is their job to make money off news not just to "report" it. Also remember that frequently, some journalist with an mass comm degree is "analyzing" what happened in Iowa. Just because you look good on camera doesn't qualify you to explain what "happened." Proceed with caution