It's less than 10 days before Iowans, possibly braving bitter cold and blowing snow, head to school libraries, church basements, community centers and veterans' halls to begin the formal process of choosing the Democratic presidential nominee. The outcome is as uncertain as the weather.
Iowans are accustomed to making daring decisions. They chose a former director of central intelligence, George H.W. Bush, over a conservative icon who had been a two-term governor of California, Ronald Reagan, in 1980. Some 28 years later they chose an unknown senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, over a onetime vice-presidential nominee, John Edwards, and a first lady-turned-senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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