Eleven days from now, Iowans will gather all over the midwestern state to hold caucuses for their state's nomination. With polls dropping everyday, celebrities and newspapers endorsing candidates, and the media and its pundits making predictions, it still is a clear toss-up. Anything can happen eleven days from now.
Without sounding dramatic, so much is at stake here. This year Iowa will have the greatest effect on the primary process. New Hampshire's primary takes place five days after Iowa. Whichever candidate wins both Iowa and NH (if that happens) will be in great shape for Nevada eleven days after that, South Carolina the weekend after that, and then Florida at the end of January.
It's been an interesting primary season so far. Clinton was the mainstream media favorite and presumed inevitable nominee. But then things changed in October. The public started to get involved, they started to pay closer attention and polls showed a tightening race. Obama started to climb. Edwards remained viable in the Iowa polls, with a bit of media and ascension in the past couple weeks.
And that virtually brings us to now. Anything can happen after the New Year - but one thing is for sure: Iowa is more influential than ever on the race for the Nomination.