As voters get their first formal chance to weigh in on the Republican presidential nomination process, here are five questions that will be answered during tonight’s Iowa caucuses:

  1. Will the winner break the all-time low share of the vote (for either party) in the Iowa caucuses — 26 percent — which Bob Dole set in 1996?

  2. Will the winner receive a level of support worthy of a celebration at Baskin-Robbins — 31 percent — like every previous Republican winner aside from Dole?

  3. Will Mitt Romney, the prohibitive frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination, make good on his prediction that he’s going to win the Iowa caucuses ( as the polls suggest), or will Rick Santorum or Ron Paul pull off the upset?

  4. How many candidates will receive at least as much support as John McCain, the eventual Republican nominee, received in Iowa in 2008 ( 13 percent)?

  5. Will Romney be able to surpass the 25.2 percent share of the vote that he received in Iowa in 2008?