For more than 100 years, Washington and Lee University students have deeply researched presidential campaigns, hosted mock conventions and announced their predictions for which presidential candidate will receive his party’s nomination. Their guess is usually correct.

So, what do they think will happen at the Iowa caucus tonight?

The students predict that Mitt Romney will win, narrowly edging out Ron Paul. They think Rick Santorum will finish in “a high third,” given his “extensive time on the ground in Iowa, and support from the Christian right.” (You can read a full rationale on the mock convention Web site.)
(Whitney Shefte / The Washington Post)

The mock convention is scheduled for Feb. 10, and several big-name speakers are lined up. In 2008, more than 90 percent of Washington and Lee students participated in the mock convention, which took more than two years to plan.

Here’s how my colleague Susan Kinzie explained it in 2008:

Each state's delegation conducts local research — reading newspapers, learning caucus rules and calling campaign staffers, district party leaders, reporters, professors and anyone else they can think of to help them gauge how their delegates are likely to vote.

The accuracy of the predictions doesn't matter as much as the research, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and one of the project's advisers for decades. "This is the best system of civic education at any college in the United States. That's what's important — these young people will stay active and involved in politics their entire lives because of this.”

At Washington and Lee, tradition is important. It's one of the oldest schools in the country, with red brick and white pillars, an honor system, a genteel sense of formality and a conservative student body.

This particular tradition began in 1908, when fiery populist William Jennings Bryan spoke on campus and students staged a mock convention. He was picked — although not without a few brawls on the floor among riled-up student delegates — and went on to earn the Democratic Party's nomination that year.

(Here’s a link to the full article from 2008: “Democratic Nominee ‘Picked’ at Va. College”)