0.1pc of US revels in democratic exercise

Commentators hailed the Iowa caucuses as a victory for democracy, after an estimated 350,000 American citizens went to the polls to choose two presidential candidates on Thursday. Representing a whopping 0.1pc of the US population, the mass turnout of residents of the 30th largest state of the union has already thinned out the field of Republican and Democratic candidates and gone a long way to determining who will hold the most powerful office in world politics from 2009. "Picking presidential candidates is a big decision," said Raymond Staples, resident of neighbouring state South Dakota, which does not hold its party primary elections until June. "I'm just glad Iowa's there to do the job for us." The presidential candidates race is expected to be all but over after eligible voters among the 0.4pc of US citizens living in New Hampshire go to their primary on 8 January.