I’m sure most if not all of you have taken notice that the 2008 Presidential Election jumped into high gear last night with the Iowa Caucus taking place. I’m sure you also noticed that Sen. Barack Obama won in a hotly contested battle over former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and the previous front-runner and former first lady, Sen. Hillary Clinton. But what I’m sure few of you know is exactly what the hell a caucus is anyway. Don’t feel bad cause I didn’t before researching for this post and I consider myself to be an educated, politically conscious individual…at least at times.

What happened Thursday night in Iowa, many consider to be an an early indication of who will win the Democratic (and Republican) nomination. But how?! Odds are most of you, if you’re registered to vote and select a party affiliation, vote in a primary which is basically an early vote to decide who will represent your party in the General Election to be held this November.

Iowans, however gather at one of 1784 small meeting locations, typically schools, churches or libraries to not only vote for party candidate but also begin the process of writing their parties’ platforms by introducing resolutions…like a mini party convention. Participants must be registered with that party but observers are welcome as long as they do not become actively involved in the debate and voting process. Additionally, Youth who will not be eligible to vote by the date of the general election may also attend as observers and may volunteer to attend the county convention as youth delegates.

Unlike the New Hampshire Primary which will take place next week or most likely the primary you will attend, the Iowa caucus ONLY elects delegates to county conventions, who elect delegates to district and state conventions where the national convention delegates are selected. Its the most “democratic” process however as you see, it is too inefficient to be used on a nation level.

It does however garner a lot of media attention because it is the first official look at who eligible voters are hoping will represent their party for the White House race. Don’t get too excited for Obama though yet. Iowa is a very small sample and caucus winners often don’t win the party nomination but with the Pro-Obama South Carolina Primary looming, the other Democratic nominees have some ground to make up.