White House race begins

The process of choosing a new US president begins every four years with the Iowa caucuses, a ritual seen by some as peculiar, but which is pivotal in shaping the field of White House hopefuls.
Voters in this largely rural midwestern state was scheduledto gather late yesterday in church basements, school auditoriums and even in some private homes for one of the US electoral calendar's quirkiest but most important electoral events.
Republican voters will make their choice of a nominee to oppose Barack Obama in the November presidential election, while Democrats in separate caucus gatherings will affirm Obama as their candidate for a second four-year term.
The lead-off state in America's election marathon since 1972, Iowa has what some critics say is an outsized role in determining the eventual nominees in November's general election.
The half-dozen Republican hopefuls vying for their party's presidential nomination all have spent considerable time in Iowa, in the months -- in some cases, years -- before Tuesday's caucuses to woo voters.
The state is among a handful to hold the more personal caucuses, rather than primaries. Viewed as "gatherings of neighbors," participants must publicly state their support for the candidate of their choice.
The ritual -- requiring that voters venture from home on a frigid winter's night to sit through hours of speeches about the candidates before casting their ballot -- ensures that only the most dedicated partisans take part.