Understanding Caucuses

Donald Trump has dominated the GOP presidential race for seven months. Nothing €— not his many offensive comments, not his mediocre debate performances, and not the once-feared GOP establishment €— has been able to stop his rise.

But on February 1, all that could change when Trump faces by far his biggest challenge yet: the Iow

Iowa and New Hampshire get a lot of attention, but their records in picking presidents, let alone nominees, is spotty (as you can see from the chart above). But that doesn't mean the states don't matter. They have been effective at weeding the field of candidates, and they're about momentum for those later states.

Plus, in the last 40 years, just one person has gone on to win the presidency after losing both I