CNN news 2012-01-05 加文本

cnn news 2012-01-05

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: Hello, and a very happy new year. I`m Carl Azuz, welcoming you to the first cnn Student News program of 2012. Hope y`all had great holidays and that you`re ready to dive back into the headlines.

First up, today marks the first major political event on the U.S. presidential campaign trail this year. It`s the Iowa caucuses. President Obama is likely the Democratic nominee, but which Republican will ultimately run against him? That`s what`s going to be decided by these primaries and caucuses.

AZUZ (voice-over): The Republican candidates have been campaigning for months. Now the voters will start to weigh in. Some states hold primaries. That`s where each voter casts a single private ballot. Other states have public meetings called caucuses.

In Iowa, candidates or their representatives can make speeches at these caucuses to try to rally some last-minute support. Then voters pick which candidates they prefer. Sometimes they write it down on a piece of paper. Other times, it`s a show of hands.

AZUZ: Three other states are holding primaries in January, starting with New Hampshire next week. South Carolina and Florida are later on in the month, but Iowa gets to go first with its caucuses today.

And the question you might be asking is how much influence does the Hawkeye State have on the race for the White House. Jessica Yellin is going to look back at the impact of Iowa`s caucuses on some past presidential campaigns.

JESSICA YELLIN, cnn REPORTER (voice-over): In Iowa, a win can thrust a candidate into the national spotlight.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Iowa.

YELLIN (voice-over): While a loss can kill a campaign`s momentum. Just ask Phil Gramm --

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PHIL GRAMM: I want to congratulate the other candidates --

YELLIN (voice-over): -- or Howard Dean.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HOWARD DEAN: And then we`re going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House. Yeah!

YELLIN (voice-over): But in terms of picking a winner, whether it`s the president or a party`s nominee ,the record for the Iowa caucuses is mixed. On the Republican side, Ronald Reagan lost here in 1980. So did George H.W. Bush in 1988. Eventual Republican nominee Bob Dole in 1996 and President George W. Bush in 2000, both claimed victories in the state.

You may remember just eight years later, Mike Huckabee won the caucuses.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MIKE HUCKABEE: I love Iowa a whole lot.

YELLIN (voice-over): But John McCain went on to become the GOP nominee.

For the Democrats, the original Iowa upset went to Jimmy Carter in 1976, when the little-known Georgia governor made a surprisingly strong finish here, launching his political rise to the White House.

FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: We need to reorganize completely the executive branch of government.

YELLIN (voice-over): In 1984, Walter Mondale went from Iowa caucus winner to Democratic Party nominee. In 1988, Iowa Democrats chose Dick Gephardt over eventual nominee Michael Dukakis. And four years later, Bill Clinton was humbled with less than 3 percent of the caucus vote. Native son Senator Tom Harkin won that year.

Democratic nominee John Kerry won the caucuses in 2004.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN KERRY: Thank you, Iowa, for making me the comeback Kerry.

YELLIN (voice-over): And more recently, Senator Barack Obama staged a caucus upset that catapulted him to the front of the pack. Recall that Senator Hillary Clinton was considered all but a shoo-in until then.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, this is Michele Bachmann calling --

YELLIN (voice-over): What the Iowa caucuses are good at is winnowing down the field. The old saying is there are only three tickets out of Iowa.

IOWA GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD: This is who comes in second and who comes in third as well as who comes in first. And if somebody else does surprisingly well, it could well launch their campaign. It`s happened before.

YELLIN (voice-over): Political upstarts have a chance here because caucusgoers really do, as they say, kick the tires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I want to know is if you get a Republican House and a Republican Senate, in two years, will you fulfill all those promises?

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The answer -- the answer is yes.

YELLIN (voice-over): And Iowans take this work seriously, which is why the media and the country follows what happens here so closely.