Some Places to Watch....

By Rhodes Cook

Exit polls are nice, but a lot can also be learned from the actual election results. Here are a few counties in Iowa where the results bear watching.

Polk County… includes the state capital of Des Moines. Polk County is not always a weathervane but it is by far Iowa’s most populous county… it is home to roughly one out of every eight Iowa voters, and cast a larger proportion of the vote than that in the 1996 Republican caucuses.

Johnson and Story counties… Iowa’s two academic strongholds and the prime building block within the state for moderate-to-liberal insurgent candidacies. Johnson County includes Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa; Story County includes Ames, home of Iowa State University.

Dubuque County… has a reputation as a Catholic, anti-abortion stronghold. Dubuque is the only one of the 10 most populous counties in Iowa that voted in the Republican caucuses for the two conservative "Pats" – Robertson in 1988 and Buchanan in 1996.

Madison County… Not only the birthplace of John Wayne and the site of a popular romantic novel but also a bellwether of sorts. In 1996, Madison County virtually matched the candidates’ statewide percentages in both the Republican caucuses and the November general election.