RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Obama, Huckabee win Iowa caucuses

The Miami Herald

Associated Press

Obama, Huckabee win Iowa caucuses
Posted on Thu, Jan. 03, 2008

BY DAVID ESPO AND MIKE GLOVER

• DES MOINES--Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to become the nation's first black president, captured the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, opening test in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory in the Republican caucuses.
  
  Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from Illinois, eased past a high-powered field that included Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the former first lady, and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee.
  
  Among Republicans, Huckabee, a preacher turned politician, handily defeated Mitt Romney despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars, and deciding in the campaign's final days to scrap television commercials that would have assailed the former Massachusetts governor.
  
  Obama, who campaigned as an apostle of change in Washington, was gaining 36 percent support among Democrats., Edwards, who ran promising to battle the special interests in the capital, and Clinton, who stressed her experience, both were drawing about 30 percent.
  
  Huckabee's triumph was more robust. He was winning 34 percent support, compared to 25 percent for Romney. Former Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain battled for third place.
  
  Romney sought to frame his defeat as something less than that, saying he had trailed Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, by more than 20 points a few weeks ago. ''I've been pleased that I've been able to make up ground and I intend to keep making up ground, not just here but across the country,'' he said.
  
  The words were brave, but already, his strategy of bankrolling a methodical campaign in hopes of winning the first two states was in tatters -- and a rejuvenated McCain was tied with him in the polls in next-up New Hampshire.
  
  Iowans rendered their judgments in meetings at 1,781 precincts from Adel to Zwingle, in schools, firehouses and community centers where the candidates themselves could not follow.
  
  In interviews as they entered the caucuses, more than half of all the Republicans said they were either born-again or evangelical Christians, and they liked Huckabee more than any of his rivals. Romney led handily among the balance of the Iowa Republican voters, according to the survey.
  
  About half the Democratic caucus-goers said a candidate's ability to bring about needed change was the most important factor as they made up their minds, according to the entrance interviews by The Associated Press and the television networks. Change was Obama's calling card in the arduous campaign for Iowa's backing. Fewer voters cited experience, which Clinton said was her strong suit, or a candidate's chance of capturing the White House or ability to care about people like the voters themselves.
  
  While Republicans and Democrats both looked to Iowa to pass the first judgment of the election year, there was a key difference in the way they ran their caucuses. Republicans took a straw vote, then tallied the results. Democrats had a more complicated process in which one candidate's supporters might eventually wind up backing another contender.
  
  Clinton, Obama and Edwards had all urged voters to consider them if their own candidate fell short. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio publicly urged his backers to line up with Obama on a second round, and two Democrats said aides to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson did likewise as the caucuses unfolded. Those two spoke on condition of anonymity, citing private discussions.
  
  The Democratic race was as close as the Republican contest was not.
  
  Obama and Clinton each sought to make history, he the most viable black presidential candidate in history, she a former first lady bidding to become the first female commander in chief. Edwards battled them to a standstill, fighting to improve on the second-place finish in the 2004 caucuses that was good enough to land him the vice presidential slot on the Democratic ticket.
  
  Their rivals, Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Joseph Biden of Delaware, Richardson and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, got little to show for their effort, and it seemed possible the field would grow smaller before New Hampshire votes on Tuesday.
  
  With President Bush constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, both parties had wide-open, costly campaigns.
  
  Obama, a first-term senator, stressed a need for change. Clinton boasted of her experience as she worked to follow her husband into the White House. Edwards cast himself as the implacable enemy of special interests as he aimed to improve on last time's second-place showing in the state.
  
  Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, stressed his background as a businessman and organizer of the 2002 Olympics, and he worked to persuade conservatives to ignore his earlier positions on abortion and gay rights. He ran the only commercials of the campaign critical of a rival, hitting Huckabee for his positions on immigration and the pardons he issued while governor of Arkansas.
  
  Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, pinned his hopes on evangelical conservatives.
  
  Arizona Sen. McCain, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Tennessee Sen. Thompson were also on the ballot, although their aides made no claim they were in the running for a first-place finish. So, too, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who largely abandoned the state in the campaign's final days.
  
  At stake Thursday night in Iowa were 45 delegates to the Democratic National Convention next summer in Denver and 37 to the GOP gathering in St. Paul, Minn. But that was hardly the reason the crowded field of presidential hopefuls devoted weeks of campaigning, built muscular campaign organizations and spent millions of dollars on television advertising in the state.
  
  For three decades, Iowa's caucuses have drawn presidential hopefuls eager to make a strong first impression, and this year was no different.
  
  Obama, Clinton and Edwards spent at least $19 million on television advertising among them, and all three capped their campaigns with statewide broadcasts on Wednesday. Romney told supporters in a final daylong swing around the state he had been in 68 of 99 counties since he began his quest for the White House, had spent 55 days in Iowa and spoken before 248 separate audiences.

We should all rally behind Huckabee to save America from evil.






-wonderboy

Way to completely misrepresent what I actually said, rex.

Huckabee topic




Lying dumbass.

would Jesus approve of that post, wondy?

Calling me names doesn't make you right wondy mcgroin.

Would Jesus approve of your soliciting an argument?

As I said, calling someone who lies a liar (as you are) is not slander, it's just circumnavigating all your antagonism and getting right to the point, exposing your deceitfulness.

You are correct about the "dumbass" portion, too...

Looks like someone got a dictionary for Christmas!

I was fuckin' pissed. Even Romney's better than Huckabee.

Still, the day was bitter sweet. Fred Thompson was able to make second runner up over McCain and Hillary didn't even surpass Edwards.

Huckabee worries me. But as long as Thompson has a chance and Hillary's on the ropes, I'm hopeful.

I'm not a christian, so such a question doesn't matter to me. but you, as a christian, should reflect upon such things. your responsibility is to your own actions, not to mine. you seem to be as afraid of self-examination as you are mexican women.



saying liar can be a valid rebuttal, but as i pointed out you added dumbass just to insult him.

here are some quotes from a famous liberal:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (interesting that this guy doesn't seem to support the "well you're a weasel so i'm calling you a weasel" argument.)
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” (are you truly without sin and therefore able to throw stones at us?)
"Resist
not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." [Matthew 5:39] (does that really sound like the type of man who went around calling people weasels?)
"I say unto you, Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you" [Matthew 5:44] (do you think you've been living by Jesus' example on this?)
"Do not judge, lest
you too be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." [Matthew 7:1 & 2.]
"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." [Matthew 6:15] (dude, you're going to hell.)
"But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." [Luke 14:13 &14.] (so wouldn't a "christian nation" be obligated to welcome poor immigrants?)
"And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret…" [Matthew 6:6 & 7] (so the christian right with their heavy expression of faith all the time are actually going against Jesus.)

wondy, don't you think that for someone to call themself a christian they should live by the words and examples of Jesus? I can't find any quotes were Jesus was insulted and he called someone a weasel. It's just not there. Ultimately you choose to be a christian and when you do you say you follow Jesus' rules. Therefore you are a hypocrite every time you don't act like a christian.

I can agree with that.

Romney's going to suffer what was once the GOP's much touted strength, th evangelical base. The right has made politics in this country a matter of faith so having a guy belong to a religion that most evangelicals consider a cult and not Christian in any sense is undoubtedly going to hurt him and help Huckabee.

Frederick of Hollywood doesn't seem too interested in being President, frankly. Apart from dry quips against people and the prerequisite "tough talk" about whatever topic happens to float under his nose that day, he's pretty much a non-issue. So his doing better than Guliani is pretty sweet indeed.

Same with Hillary. The worse off she does, the happier I am. At least Edwards still has a chance and America might still see reason despite the best efforts of the punditocracy.

I'm sorry but having a President Huckabee would be even funnier than a President Bush.

I had thought Obama was going to suffer because so many college students were on vacation and weren't about to vote?

Of all the Republican candidates, I hope Ron Paul winds up winning, as he seems the most SANE of them all, what with his knowledge of what the President is CONSTITUTIONALLY ALLOWED TO DO, which some of the other Republicans don't seem to have a grasp on. He won't actually win, mind you, but I can dream.

Your response was overkill in proportion to what he actually said to you. So much for your high moral ground.

He should have changed his name to RAWKabee...

I hear that Sean Hannity was visibly upset that Huckabee won. He was so down that Huckabee won. He called it a Huckaboom or Huckabust.

Good.

Here’s a sample of the kind of attacks Obama will be facing because of his win in Iowa. It’s pretty disturbing.



Those 24%ers can be real nasty assholes.

Well if Hannity doesn't like Huckabee then he can't be all bad.

So much for the high moral ground.

Why? rex made yet another trollish remark, this one completely misrepresenting WB's position. I think WB was well within his rights to call him out on it.

Actually US colleges are on break right now. Most kids are home.

The only thing worse than ron paul is a ron paul supporter.

I think the point is that wb resorted to name calling after reprimanding others for the same.

I prefer Ron Paul over some of his opposition, but he's definitely not my favorite.

Ron Paul is the man.

End the war, end policing the world, and end income tax.

Sounds good to me. That is assuming he actually follows through on that...which almost never happens but it took guts for him to take these positions in the first place.

I know. I remember one debate where all the candidates were talking about how fast and hard they'd bomb Iran and Ron Paul was like "Uh... Doesn't Congress need to declare war first?"

His vivid imagination will serve him well as president

That's the arguement Al Gore's supporters made after he claimed to have invented the internet.

Hopefully they were being as sarcastic as I am.

he never claimed he invented the internet. he said, accurately, that he pushed for legislation in congress that lead to the creation of the internet we know today. That's true and is acknowledged by many in the industry. His mistake was going along with the joke after right wingers twisted his words.
Sadly your lot did the same thing with John Kerry and his voting in 2004.

I just love how pissed off you get about the "Gore invented the internet" thing.

Dance, puppet, dance!

A baby's not alive until the third trimester.

George W. Bush is a retard.

there. take that.

Conservatives truly have no imagination

Heh. Now whomod's even doing the "Republicans equal Nazis" bit. Talk about no imagination.

I thought I was doing the "Republicans equal liars" bit....

And who, exactly, made the "big lie" quote that you used?