Iowa Caucus brings sighs of relief, apprehension for the future

Emma Cummins, Editorial Page Editor|February 6, 2016

TNS

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband and former President Bill Clinton hug as they join supporters at Nashua Community College in Nashua, N.H., on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, after she was officially declared the winner of the Iowa caucus. (Ryan Mcbride/Zuma Press/TNS)

By Emma Cummins

Editorial Page Editor

 

On Monday, the Iowa Caucus was held. For the large majority of us high school teenagers, this may be an unfamiliar event for us, and justifiably so. A quick search of the Iowa Caucus yields us this definition: the Iowa Caucus is an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions.

 

This year has been particularly interesting given Republican Donald Trump’s surprising rate of success and the comeback kid that Democrat Bernie Sanders has become. Many Republicans held their breath this year, since Trump’s lead has given more than a few conservatives a sharp pang of anxiety. But given the results of the Caucus, a few Republicans will be heaving sighs of relief, while Democrats will be a bit befuddled to see their Clinton idol doing not so well.

 

There was also a surprising show of strength from Republican Marco Rubio, with some even saying that he may have stolen some of the following the top candidates had garnered. Despite Cruz and Trump being the top candidates, their numbers had either remained stagnant or increased, while Rubio’s have been increasing.

 

The results are as follows:

 

The top three Republican winners:

 

  1. Ted Cruz with 26.7% of the vote
  2. Donald Trump with 24.3% of the vote
  3. Marco Rubio with 23.1% of the vote

 

The top three Democratic winners:

 

  1. Hillary Clinton with 49.9% of the vote
  2. Bernie Sanders with 49.6% of the vote
  3. Martin O’Malley with 0.6% of the vote

 

In order to get a better perspective on what Coppell High School students think about the Caucus, we went out to CHS to ask students what they think.