Luther College political science professor predicts a lot of candidates will drop out of the race for President after the Iowa Caucuses

Luther College political science professor Dr. Carly Hayden Foster says the Iowa Caucuses do an important job every four years--narrowing the field of presidential candidates.

Hayden Foster spoke Wednesday afternoon at the Decorah Library about "Gender, Politics and the Iowa Caucuses."  She told an audience of around 30 people, "You'll see a lot of candidates drop out of the race (after the Iowa Caucuses)."

Hayden Foster says Iowa is a good place for presidential candidates to campaign because it is a swing state, along with Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and a few others.  If candidates can't do well in Iowa, that's a sign that they'll have trouble raising money and creating interest in the rest of the country.

She says while it will be interesting to see whether Donald Trump or Ted Cruz wins the Iowa Republican Party Caucus, it will also be interesting to see who finishes third.  She says she's been noticing signs that mainstream Republicans want to coalesce around a candidate who can face down Trump and Cruz later in the race.  That means one of the key factors determining the outcome of the Iowa Caucuses will be how well each candidate is able to motivate people to attend the February 1st caucus.