OBAMA TAKES IOWA
Illinios Senator Obama wins the Iowa caucus with 36 %.
Obama beats Edwards & Clinton to win Iowa
By STEVEN THOMMA
McClatchy Newspapers
DES MOINES, Iowa - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the first test of the 2008 presidential campaign Thursday, a political newcomer riding a promise of change as Democrats surged to Iowa's precinct caucuses in record numbers.
The victory over former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and NY Senator Hillary Clinton, two far more familiar and practiced politicians, one party's vice presidential candidate four years ago and the other the a former first lady, suggested a hunger among Democrats for a new voice and perhaps a new approach to politics.
Obama didn't win by a big margin, however, and he likely now will have to duel state by state, probably with Clinton. She has the money and organizational support around the country to fight on; Edwards does not, and he may well find that anything less than victory in Iowa dries up his limited resources.
With 1,400 of 1,800 precincts reporting, Obama had 36 percent of the projected delegates, John Edwards had 30.57 percent and Hillary Clinton had 30.34 percent.
Democratic Party officials said they expected attendance at the town hall-like meetings to hit 200,000, a dramatic increase from the record 124,000 who attended four years ago and sent Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry on his way to the Democratic nomination.
Their hunger for change fueled Obama's victory. Polls of Democrats entering the caucuses showed 51 percent were looking for someone who could change politics. Of them, 51 percent went for Obama.
Far fewer cited experience, a blow to Clinton, who's built her campaign on that claim.
Obama ran as the fresh voice of American politics - with the strikingly different African-American face to match.
He promised a new tone and a more civil approach to getting things done in Washington. And he played a generational card, saying it was time to retire a baby-boom generation that came of age in the 1960s and retains its combative politics.
His message struck a chord with young Iowans, who turned out in droves for his rallies. They also helped send Obama to victory, apparently defying the history that said young people don't show up to caucus here. Polls showed Obama winning 57 percent of the support from those ages 29 and younger.
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By STEVEN THOMMA
McClatchy Newspapers
DES MOINES, Iowa - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the first test of the 2008 presidential campaign Thursday, a political newcomer riding a promise of change as Democrats surged to Iowa's precinct caucuses in record numbers.
The victory over former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and NY Senator Hillary Clinton, two far more familiar and practiced politicians, one party's vice presidential candidate four years ago and the other the a former first lady, suggested a hunger among Democrats for a new voice and perhaps a new approach to politics.
Obama didn't win by a big margin, however, and he likely now will have to duel state by state, probably with Clinton. She has the money and organizational support around the country to fight on; Edwards does not, and he may well find that anything less than victory in Iowa dries up his limited resources.
With 1,400 of 1,800 precincts reporting, Obama had 36 percent of the projected delegates, John Edwards had 30.57 percent and Hillary Clinton had 30.34 percent.
Democratic Party officials said they expected attendance at the town hall-like meetings to hit 200,000, a dramatic increase from the record 124,000 who attended four years ago and sent Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry on his way to the Democratic nomination.
Their hunger for change fueled Obama's victory. Polls of Democrats entering the caucuses showed 51 percent were looking for someone who could change politics. Of them, 51 percent went for Obama.
Far fewer cited experience, a blow to Clinton, who's built her campaign on that claim.
Obama ran as the fresh voice of American politics - with the strikingly different African-American face to match.
He promised a new tone and a more civil approach to getting things done in Washington. And he played a generational card, saying it was time to retire a baby-boom generation that came of age in the 1960s and retains its combative politics.
His message struck a chord with young Iowans, who turned out in droves for his rallies. They also helped send Obama to victory, apparently defying the history that said young people don't show up to caucus here. Polls showed Obama winning 57 percent of the support from those ages 29 and younger.
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