But this time, it seems likely that it will take a few caucuses and primaries to offer some clarity before the Party decides on its mainstream choice.
Unlike primaries, in which voters simply cast a ballot, caucuses are essentially community meetings.
The most dangerous was when I nearly caused a riot in a market in the Caucuses by asking a woman selling apples whether she had a penis.
In the caucuses, a candidate needs to achieve a certain threshold of support within a room to be "viable".
The Bush administration wants to hand sovereignty back to the Iraqi people by June 30, and had planned to have a system of nationwide caucuses select a national assembly.
Iowa has a caucus instead of a daylong primary; caucuses always bring out far fewer voters.
"There has never been a more tainted victory in the Iowa caucuses," a spokesman for Ben Carson's campaign said on Tuesday.
It is now, like the Iowa caucuses, a place to make a Statement.
Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, have teamed up with Lindsey Graham, a Republican, to draft an energy bill.
And, of course, votes in primary elections are cast with a secret ballot (party caucuses are an exception, although Iowa's Republican caucuses typically involve paper ballots).
After the Iowa caucus, The Associated Press added a disclaimer about caucuses in its election advisories: "This event is a party run, party administered affair.
