An honest-to-goodness phenomenon?
The turnout of young voters for Obama has already gotten a lot of attention, and deservedly so. After the 2006 election I wrote a post that was dismissive of the supposed uptick in youth voting, but a couple of critical emails prompted me to revisit the subject and I ended up changing my [...]

It’s true that Iowa doesn’t always pick the eventual nominee, but for her staff to come out and dismiss Iowa as a backwater is very bad form.
From WSJ:
After pouring millions of dollars and nearly a year of effort into a win in Iowa, senior staffers for Democrat Hillary Clinton now say the state isn’t that [...]

Check out this video clip.

It’s all about GET OUT THE VOTE. Barack has proven he can do it, and then some.

This podcast covers the results of the Iowa Caucuses. We discuss the significance of Huckabee’s victory, the state of the Republican race after Iowa and we also dissect Obama’s victory and analyze the rest of the Democratic race.
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Feel free to email us questions/suggestions for next week’s podcast (you [...]

I can’t find Huckabee’s anywhere, but when I do I’ll post it for you.
Until then, check this out.

I thought it was pretty good. He definitely sounded presidential and pushed the hope message, positioned him as the underdog and did all the things he should do with a speech like this.
What do you think?

He beat McCain, 29% to 21%.
But with voters who identified themselves as Republicans, he pulled in 7%. Only Giuliani did worse, with 4%. I’m not counting Hunter, since I think 3 people voted for him tonight.
By the way, 81% of the voters were Republicans and 13% were Independents.
What does this tell you Paulites? Well, your [...]

The Delaware Senator is out. No surprise there. I’m watching his speech right now, and it’s a good one. Very frank, very natural, very Biden.
Bill Richardson should be following shortly. Not that I know he’ll drop out, but after you get 2% in Iowa, you have to think it’s time to close up shop.

This from Marc Ambinder:
REVOLUTION FOR CHANGE BEGINS? ON STRENGTH OF NEW CAUCUS GOERS, YOUNG VOTERS AND INDEPENDENTS…..OBAMA WINS DEMOCRATIC CAUCUSES……..CLINTON BRACES FOR PRESS BACKLASH…..EDWARDS CAMPAIGN SPINS RESULTS AS REPUDIATION OF STATUS QUO.
** Obama beats Clinton among women and men ** Late deciders throw support to Obama, Edwards ** 41% of Obama’s caucus goers were new [...]

He really underperformed here, even though he moved his entire family here last year. But the other second tier candidates didn’t do much better. You should see Biden and Richardson dropping out soon enough too.
We shall see…

Fred Thompson and John McCain are virtually tied with 14% apiece, and they’re pulling away from Ron Paul. Looks like he’ll end up with 10% of the vote, which is respectable, but we all know he was hoping for a lot more.
Still, he should be included in any forum or debate from here on out. [...]

Mike Huckabee: 34% (35,621)
Mitt Romney: 25% (26,524)
Fred Thompson: 13% (13,932)
John McCain: 13% (13,693)
Ron Paul: 10% (10,184)
Rudy Giuliani: 4% (3,613)

These are the FINAL official numbers. Big win for Obama.
Senator Barack Obama: 37.58%
Senator John Edwards: 29.75%
Senator Hillary Clinton: 29.47%
Governor Bill Richardson: 2.11%
Senator Joe Biden: 0.93%
Uncommitted: 0.14%
Senator Chris Dodd: 0.02%
Precincts Reporting: 1781 of 1781
Courtesy of IowaCaucusResults.com

Giuliani has just shot up and is neck and neck and neck and neck with Thompson, McCain and Ron Paul. In fact, of the 4, he’s in the 3rd spot, with Paul trailing by 1%. This is with 41% reporting.

With 69% reporting, Obama has 35%, and Edwards and Hillary are tied with 31%.
My take? If Obama can raise that number to 39% and push Hillary and Edwards down to 29%…that’s big news. If it stays this close, it will be a HUGE story for Obama, but this doesn’t push Hillary out. Edwards, however, would [...]

There’s no way I’m calling it this early, but that’s what CNN is reporting. Huck is about 10% ahead of Romney, and that’s because 60% of the GOP voters who came out tonight were evangelicals. Big, big night for Huckabee and a big disappointment for Romney.
Surprise of the night? Fred Thompson, followed closely by McCain [...]

Together the second tier candidates are accounting for about 15%-20% in recent polling. So that could really help Obama gain the second choice votes he needs to win.
First, the Richardson deal…
Two well-placed sources told Iowa Independent last night that Gov. Bill Richardson’s campaign plans to direct their supporters to Sen. Barack Obama in precincts where [...]

I wonder what they’d say if you asked them about their own state?
From AP:
According to national survey conducted for The Associated Press and Yahoo News, just over half of all voters said New Hampshire and Iowa have an extraordinary amount of influence over who wins the two nominations.
“They have way too much — WAY too [...]

The Clinton camp is trying to lower expectations, which is a completely normal tactic, but it rings especially hollow when it comes to Hillary.
From ABC News:
As the presidential candidates engage in furious pre-caucus spin, one of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Iowa supporters said Wednesday that she’s already accomplished what she needs to in Iowa [...]

As usual, he is not pleased…
It is quite astonishing to see with what deadpan and neutral a tone our press and television report the open corruption—and the flagrantly anti-democratic character—of the Iowa caucuses. It’s not enough that we have to read of inducements openly offered to potential supporters—I almost said “voters”—even if these mini-bribes only [...]

I think it’s actually realistic. Here’s why…
Romney and Huckabee have 1st and 2nd locked up. The order in which they’ll finish is still up in the air, but I have a feeling that Huckabee could grab 1st because people just don’t seem to like Romney that much. Still, he has spent a ton of money [...]