With only four days between the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary -- compared to a seven-day margin in 2004 -- candidates split their focus between the two states in the month leading up to the votes. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., were the only candidates to visit New Hampshire in the days leading up to the caucuses.
The Democratic candidates concentrated their rallies and advertising in Iowa, where polls indicated a tight race between Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Edwards. Though polls leading up to the election indicated Clinton's slight lead, Obama received the winning 38 percent of the vote, Edwards received 30 percent and Clinton received 29 percent. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., withdrew from the race, narrowing the Democratic field after Iowa.
The Republican race saw a string of negative advertisements as Romney reacted to a sudden rise in popularity of Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ariz., indicated by polls leading up to the caucuses. Despite Romney's efforts, Huckabee received the winning 34 percent of the vote compared to Romney's 25 percent. Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and McCain both earned 13 percent of the vote, while Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani garnered 10 and four percent, respectively.
It is unclear whether the results of the Iowa caucuses will effect New Hampshire and other primaries.
"Iowa is not a good predictor of success in the nomination process," said Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth. Fowler added that historically, New Hampshire has proven a more accurate indicator of the primary results than Iowa.
Still, the Iowa caucuses impacted many of the campaigns. Following Obama's win, both Clinton and Edwards sought to identify as candidates of change in their New Hampshire campaign efforts. Republican candidates also adopted "change" as their buzzword.
"What Iowa means is that the need to change the kinds of politics we're engaging in is resonating with voters," Fowler said. "You saw it in the Republicans."
Candidates also used the results of the Iowa caucuses to further their New Hampshire campaigns in victory and concession speeches. Both McCain and Huckabee criticized Romney on his campaigning style.
"I think the lesson in Iowa is one, you can't buy an election, and two, that negative campaigns don't work," McCain said in his concession speech.
In New Hampshire, Huckabee remains in third place according to polls, despite his win in Iowa, and the race appears primarily divided between Romney and McCain. Giuliani, whose national lead in the Republican field has dwindled, took the unorthodox approach of focusing campaign efforts on later primary states like Florida, effectively surrendering in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Due to the condensed primary schedule, experts are uncertain of how the New Hampshire primary will effect the races in the long run.
"The game has just changed. The models we have used to make those predictions just don't work in this situation," Fowler said. "I'm assiduously avoiding predictions."
