Race for the Presidency is On

The United States will have a new president on January 20, 2009. Americans will go to the polls on November 4, 2008, to choose the president. However, the American people also will vote in early elections. They are called primary elections, or caucuses. Primary elections help choose which leading candidates we will vote for in the general elections in November.

Thus, the primaries are very important. They help narrow the field of candidates to those who have the best chance of winning next year in November. They give the people the chance to know what the candidates stand for and the issues that are important to them. It is the duty of every American to vote in the primary election and the general election. More so, it is every American's right to vote and to be represented by the best person for president.

A close race so far
The race is close so far. There are a number of top candidates.

The top Democrats are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joseph Biden and Dennis Kucinich. Clinton is a senator from New York and the wife of former President Bill Clinton. Obama is a senator from Illinois. Edwards is a former senator from North Carolina. Biden is a senator from Delaware. All four are lawyers. Kucinich is a congressman from Ohio. He was elected mayor of Cleveland when he was just 31 years old.
The top Republicans are Rudolph Guiliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mike Huckabee.

Guiliani was mayor of New York City. Romney was governor of Massachusetts. McCain is an Arizona senator. Thompson was a Tennessee senator. He is an actor who starred in NBC's "Law and Order." Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas and a minister.

Clinton is leading in early polls
Clinton leads many of the early polls. She supports bringing troops home from Iraq. Clinton also has focused her campaign on the economy and health care.

She is a strong Republican critic.

"I am not interested in attacking my (Democratic) opponents," Clinton said. "I'm interested in attacking the problems of America. I believe we should be turning up the heat on the Republicans. They deserve all the heat we can give them."

Giuliani is the early Republican favorite. His campaign is focused on national security.
"The country is at war. Sometimes it doesn't feel like a war, because it is far away," he said. "We have the possibility of attack on America. We know that. It happened before."
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee are climbing in the polls.

Upcoming months are critical
The debate is sure to become more heated. The early part of 2008 is important in the election process. States hold primaries then. Winners receive electoral votes.

The candidates from any party with the most electoral votes advance to the general election on November 4, 2008. States with larger populations award more electoral votes.

The first key race is the Iowa caucus January 14. Some candidates, including Edwards, need a good showing there. Otherwise, they are not likely to win the party nomination. Another important early race is the New Hampshire primary. Its date is not final yet.

February 5 is another key date. Twenty states are holding primaries or caucuses that day. That includes California and New York. Both states have many electoral votes.

Wisconsin holds its primary February 19. It is one of the later primaries. It is possible the Democrat or Republican nominee could be decided by then.

"My number one priority is to have a Democrat carry Wisconsin in November," Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle said. "I do not think there is any possibility it will be a strong Republican state."

Wisconsin traditionally votes Democrat for president.

Senator John Kerry, a Democrat, beat Republican President George Bush in the state in 2004. However, it was a close race.

Mark Graul ran Bush's 2004 campaign in Wisconsin. He thinks the state will have a very close race this year.

"Absolutely it will be a battleground state," Graul said.