Huckabee, Obama sweep to Iowa victories
By DAVID ESPO and MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press
Writers
DES MOINES, Iowa - Sen. Barack Obama swept to victory
in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Hillary Rodham Clinton to third
place and taking a major stride in a historic bid to become the nation's first
black president. Mike Huckabee
rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to win the opening
round among Republicans in the 2008 campaign for the White House
Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from Illinois,
told a raucous victory rally his triumph showed that in "big cities and
small towns, you came together to say, 'We are one nation, we are one
people and our time for change has come.'"
Final Democratic returns showed the first-term lawmaker gaining 37 percent
support. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina gained second, barely
edging out Clinton, the former first lady.
Huckabee celebrated his own victory over Mitt Romney
and a crowded Republican field. "A new day is needed in American
politics, just like a new day is needed in American government," the
former Arkansas governor told cheering supporters. "It starts here, but
it doesn't end here. It goes all the way through the other states and
ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."
Huckabee, a preacher turned politician, handily defeated Romney
despite being outspent by millions of dollars and deciding in the
campaign's final days to scrap television commercials that would have
assailed the former Massachusetts governor. He stressed his religion to
the extent of airing a commercial that described himself as a
"Christian leader" in his race against a man seeking to become the
first Mormon president.
Nearly complete returns showed Huckabee with 34 percent support, compared with
25 percent for Romney. Former Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain battled
for third place, while Texas Rep. Ron Paul wound up fifth and former New York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani sixth.
With the New Hampshire primary only five days distant, Clinton and Edwards
vowed to fight on in the race for the Democratic nomination.
"We have always planned to run a national campaign," the former
first lady told supporters at a noisy rally attended by her husband and
their daughter, Chelsea. "I am so ready for the rest of this campaign,
and I am so ready to lead."
Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee, told The
Associated Press in an interview he would distinguish himself from
Obama in New Hampshire by arguing that he is the candidate who can
deliver the change that voters have shown they want. "I"m going to
fight for that change," he said by telephone from his hotel room in Iowa. "I've
fought for it my entire life. I have a long history of fighting powerful
interests and winning."
Not everyone was going on. Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware announced they would quit the race.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he would campaign in New Hampshire despite
finishing in fourth place with a minuscule 2 percent support.
Romney sought to frame his defeat as something other than that,
saying he had trailed Huckabee 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. Turnout
was heavy, far more so for Democrats than Republicans in what could be
an early indication of the country's mood after eight years of a
Republican administration.
With President Bush
constitutionally unable to seek re-election, a wide-open race developed
in both parties that resulted in campaign organizations that dwarfed
anything in previous campaigns. Romney alone spent $7 million on
television commercials. The result was a record turnout.
Projections estimated that 220,588 Democrats showed up on a cold midwinter's
night, shattering the previous mark of 124,000.
Turnout was also up on the Republican side, where projections showed
about 114,000 people taking part. The last previous contested
Republican caucuses in 2000 drew 87,666 participants.
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
AP and the television networks. Change was Obama's calling card in the
arduous campaign for Iowa's backing.
Obama also outpolled Clinton among women, and benefited from a surge in
first-time caucus-goers. More than half of those who participated said
they had never been to a caucus before, and Obama won the backing of
roughly 40 percent of them. Edwards did best among veteran
caucus-goers, garnering 30 percent of their vote. Obama and Clinton
each got about a quarter of their support.
An AP analysis of Iowa's Republican caucuses estimated that
Huckabee would win 30 delegates to the national convention and Romney
would win 7.
Obama's victory was much narrower in the race for delegates.
The AP analysis estimated Obama would win 16 delegates, compared to 15
for Clinton and 14 for Edwards. Clinton will win more delegates than
Edwards, despite getting fewer votes, because of Iowa's complicated
caucus system.
In the overall race for the nomination, Clinton leads with 175
delegates, including superdelegates, followed by Obama with 75 and
Edwards with 46.
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 Richardson did likewise as the caucuses
unfolded in hopes of blocking the former first lady. Those two spoke on
condition of anonymity, citing private discussions.
In the campaign's final days, 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.
Strikingly, none of the Democrats ran television commercials attacking
one another, and the result was a remarkably civilized race despite the
stakes.
Romney 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.
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. 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.
Alexander Rodriguez Ch
"La ambición suele llevar a los hombres a ejecutar los menesteres más viles:
por eso para trepar se adopta la misma postura que para arrastrarse".
Jonathan Swift
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