Republican and Democratic pundits are trying to spin both victories as testaments that Americans are sick of "Washington politics as usual."
The results were as follows:
Democrats
Obama: 38%
Edwards: 30%
Clinton: 29%
Richardson: 2%
Republicans
Huckabee: 34%
Romney: 25%
Thompson: 13%
McCain: 13%
Paul: 10%
Giuliani: 2%
A quick analysis:
- The Obama campaign successfully targeted young and independent voters in Iowa -- leading to his overwhelming margin. Perhaps surprisingly, he also was more successful than Hillary at reaching female voters, her ostensibly loyal base.
- John Edwards, thrilled by his second place victory, is attempting to piggy back on Obama's "change message," antagonizing Hillary as "the status quo," as opposed to his and Obama's message of freshness in Washington.
- For Republicans, it is clear that the evangelical vote sealed Huckabee's victory in Iowa -- a devastating blow to the Romney campaign, which poured $7 million into the state, as opposed to Huckabee's $300,000.
- For Giuliani supporters out there in NYC (all 2 of you), do not fret. The former mayor did not focus on the Iowa caucuses and spent little time in the state, knowing that his history of liberal social policies would not play well in the conservative state.
ON TO NEW HAMPSHIRE!
6 comments:
As much as I love Obama, I was really saddened for Hilary while watching both the Caucus and the debates. Voters just seem to not like Hilary even though they agree that she is the most qualified candidate. I don't understand why this is. Anyone have any ideas? I mean I know that I am definitely more motivated by the manner in which Obama delivers his speeches because he is a fantastic orator. Yet logic should still make Hilary the leading candidate, although according tot he polls she is not. Is she really that unlikable?
It's just that Hilary is such a polarizing figure. Many people either love and respect her, or hate her for their own reasons. And then you have Obama on the other end, who's pushing for national unity and wants people to come together, which really just adds to his image as one of the most human and likable candidates. What I'm most surprised by, however, is that Hilary lost a good deal of support from her female voter-base. Maybe Oprah has something to do with it...
So is Hilary going to take this as a loss to Edwards or consider it as a tie?
Also, Out of all the candidates Fred Thompson was one of my favorites... With this huge loss does anyone think he may be dropping out?
well, the big staple of of Thompson's campaign was "A conservative for conservatives" and that he was a principled religious Christian. In this respect, he's been beaten out by Huckabee, who seems to have the entire Evangelist population behind him. Whether this means Thompson's dropping out though is another story. The race isn't over yet- in fact, it has barely even begun.
Even after New Hampshire, I still don't think Hilary has it in her.
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