POLITICS: Iowa: The Winnowing Begins

Day after day, the Democratic presidential hopefuls crisscrossed the frozen cornland by auto, plane and camper. In sub-zero weather, they grasped outstretched hands at street corners and factory gates. They flooded the mails with thousands of pieces of literature and they saturated the air waves with radio and TV spots. The prize hardly seemed worth the effort: Iowa would send a mere 47 delegates to the national convention out of a total of 3,008. But as the curtain raiser on the nominating process, the Iowa precinct caucuses stood to give one candidate...