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Originally Posted by Azure
Obama won in Iowa, right? Now if he wins in N.H. what happens then? Is he the Democrat candidate? Or are there other states that are involved as well?
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driveway's post above explains a little bit about the process, but I'll sum up anyway, since you ask. Each state has a primary, in which they elect delegates to the convention, at which a candidate is officially nominated. Effectively, the candidate is decided much earlier, but it'll be a while before we know what's happening. Iowa and New Hampshire actually have relatively few delegates, but because they're early primaries and are considered bellwethers to a certain extent, there's a lot of momentum that can be gained or lost by winning or losing.
As a result, part of it's about expectations: if you're expected to lose N.H. by 30 points, and instead you lose by only 4, that can give you a huge boost. Historically, winning Iowa or New Hampshire has been considered close to essential, but I think that's changing a little bit. Bill Clinton didn't win either of them--though he did do better than expected in N.H., IIRC--and Iowa almost didn't count, because Iowa senator Tom Harkin was a candidate, so that was almost a foregone conclusion even though Harkin had no chance nationally.
Clinton is having a rough spell, but a strong Super Tuesday could really turn it around. She does have a comfortable lead in nationwide polls last time I checked.