if it applies. there was a final debate right before the caucus in 1980 in iowa, ronald reagan was the big front runner nationally, it was the front-runner, and he skipped the debate. the subject of him skipping that big him up in the debate, all the candidates -- was taking iowa voters for granted, and lo and behold in the caucuses, reagan lost. this was a major upset. george h. w. bush at the time was the former u.n. ambassador, if you want to see other parallels to current politics, george h. w. bush, and ronald, reagan he said he had big momentum coming out of, iowa went into new hampshire, and it up losing to reagan there. it became a fight for a few months. probably the only reason bush ever become vice president was upset win over reagan in 1980 that made him the main alternative to ronald reagan. in 2012, there is rick santorum. rick santorum when the iowa caucuses, although an interesting story because it took him a few weeks, it took the republican party a few weeks to actually say to