The Iowa result
Friday, January 4, 2008 at 2:11AM Wow! Say I.
It is still a hugely Clinton Democratic party and with the large Dem turnout, 70 percent said "no" to her, and "no" to a return of the Clinton crowd. To me, that's a huge vote for change, and not just a return to the 1990s.
And the Huckabee vote is nearly as powerful: he is the most clear-cut anti-Bush Republican--at least among the credible (sorry, but Ron Paul is just too incredible to me--as in, incredibly implausible).
Then again, I would have--and did--say similar things about Huckabee not too long ago, but IMO, his result just says to me how many GOPers want to distance themselves from Bush as quickly as possible.
Yes, yes, I know Iowa doesn't exactly pick 'em, but what a nice sense of hopeful change.
I wish Obama well in NH.
Reader Comments (7)
356,000Percentage of the total vote:
24.5% Obama (D)20.5% Edwards (D)19.8% Clinton (D)11.4% Huckabee (R)
Pretty much sayes it all.
But we have to remember we're choosing a Commander-in-Chief in time of war not a dinner companion.
That means someone who can make very tough decisions about life and death. Having served under a C-in-C who was unable to make those decisions (L.B.J.) I know just how devastating that can be to morale and to the ability to wage war.
I was on the phone with him going RUN MOTHA' F-er RUN!!! :-)
His caucus site included precincts 70, 71, 72 at Merrill Middle School, Des Moines Iowa
If you were watching CNN that night this was one of the precincts you got to see, the guy who gave the Edwards speech talked about fighting, and the Black woman who gave the Obama speech who got a few boos from the other camps for her firebrand approach. That was the one my brother was at.
He said there were between 2000 and 3000 people there Democrat and Republican. When he arrived there were still 120 Democrats or so in line waiting to register. There were 400 people in his Precinct 71. He said that from the get go Obama had 30%. He talked to three undecideds, but did not see any Republicans crossing over to caucus with the Democrats. The Joe Biden people got divided up between the Richardson and Clinton people.
Here's the final breakdown for his precinct
Obama -- 3 delegates
Clinton -- 2 delegates
Edwards -- 1 delegate
Richardson -- 1 delegate
He told me that there were no political operatives there, just good Iowans who wanted to do the right thing for their state and their country.
He caucused for Obama of course because he's my little brother and I worked on convincing him for about a year. Last time around he caucused for Edwards.
I disagree (based on Rep=RED, and Dem=Blue) because it is a state full of relatively conservative democrats, and independents who apparently buy the message of unity. But you may ask, "Obama is liberal!" Corn is more important than gays, babies, "blackness," or secularism. I bet they hope Obama will keep the farmer constituency happy (SOME probably crossed from Edwards/Clinton to Obama). In this election, there is too much fatigue for cheap shots - negative ads are becoming = shoot yourself in the foot.
Obama is smart: If you start talking like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, you even split your black electorate and become useless (It is not 1964 - Damn you!). Same for the Republicans, they have to stop talking about policy like it is still 1964 - more and more people are getting sick of it.
Well this is the media line, but it's not totally accurate. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228177/Huckabee received less than half of the evangelical vote while Romney received the second most. It's not surprising that Huckabee got a larger number since among the GOP voters there was a 60/40 split. But you could also say that he was fueled by women (received 40%) or younger voters (17-29 yr old- 40% though he did well among all ages) or you could say that it was his appeal to a broad base of support (he was fairly evenly spread among Political Philosophy and Issues). He has to be careful his background is a plus for many but he starting to be painted with one brush stroke -the “religious guy”. This ironic since he brings it up less than most of the other candidates and notice candidates like Edwards are usually not described as the “the former trial attorney” while Huckabee is almost always referred to as “the former Baptist minister”.
So far it’s down to who picked the right brand to run under. It’s interesting how little, as quality; experience is counting on the Democrats side and how much focusing on the “average man” matters on the Republican side.