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Obama and Huckabee win Iowa
Topic Started: Jan 4 2008, 02:49 AM (994 Views)
lister
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fly on the wall sees all
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Obama and Huckabee win first 2008 vote By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
1 hour, 53 minutes ago



DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Barack Obama took a big step on Thursday toward becoming the first black U.S. president as his campaign for change caught fire in Iowa and swept him past Hillary Clinton in the opening Democratic nominating contest.


Republican underdog Mike Huckabee capped a stunning political rise to beat rival Mitt Romney in Iowa, despite being dramatically outspent by the wealthy former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist.

Obama, an Illinois senator, captured the first Democratic prize on the road to the White House with a comeback triumph over former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who edged out one-time front-runner Clinton for second.

"We are choosing hope over fear, we are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America," Obama, 46, told thousands of cheering, chanting and foot-stamping supporters.

Both Obama and Huckabee, 52, a former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister, once trailed better-known rivals Clinton and Romney in their race to be on the November election ballot.

But they rode a wave of grass-roots enthusiasm to victories by touting an outsider's message of change in Washington.

"Tonight what we have seen is a new day in American politics," Huckabee, with actor and supporter Chuck Norris nearby, told cheering backers in Des Moines. "Tonight we proved that American politics is still in the hands of people like you."

The 2008 campaign is the most open presidential race in more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice president seeking their party's nomination, and the Iowa contest was the most hotly contested in the state's history.

Turnout among Democrats topped 220,000, smashing the previous record of 124,000 in 2004 -- testament to the high enthusiasm among Democrats heading into November's election.

For the winner in Iowa, the prize is valuable momentum and at least a temporary claim to the front-runner's slot in the battle to win the party's presidential nomination in the November election.

All eyes now turn to New Hampshire, which holds the next contest on Tuesday and where Romney and Clinton will face high-pressure bids to revive their candidacies.

The third-place finish was a huge blow for Clinton, 60, the former first lady who a few months ago was considered in some quarters the almost certain Democratic nominee. She now faces immense pressure to turn around her campaign in New Hampshire over the next five days.

"Today we are sending a clear message that we are going to have change, and that change will be a Democratic president in the White House," Clinton, with husband and former President Bill Clinton at her shoulder, said in Des Moines.

Edwards, 54, who at one time led polls in Iowa and finished a strong second here during a failed 2004 presidential bid, also faces questions about the viability of his candidacy as he goes forward.

DODD, BIDEN DROP OUT

The big casualties of the evening were Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, who both finished well out of the Democratic race and dropped out afterward. Dodd had moved his family to Iowa to concentrate on the campaign.

Obama's win effectively makes him the candidate to beat among Democrats, and a win next week in New Hampshire could put him in prime position to capture the nomination. After Nevada on January 19, the next big contest would be in South Carolina, where more than half of the voters in the Democratic primary are likely to be black.

Obama finished with 38 percent of the vote, easily beating Edwards at 30 percent and Clinton at 29 percent. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson finished fourth at 2 percent.

Huckabee finished with 34 percent of the vote, ahead of Romney's 26 percent. Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson were tied at 13 percent, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 10 percent.

Entrance polls showed Obama won big among young voters and even beat Clinton among women voters as his message of change resonated with voters.

Iowa voters filled gathering spots in more than 1,700 precincts around the state to declare a presidential preference in Iowa's caucuses, which open the state-by-state battle to choose candidates in the November 4 election to succeed President George W. Bush.

For Republicans, Huckabee's upset reshaped a race where no candidate has been able to claim front-runner status. Iowa, where a sizable bloc of religious conservatives had fueled Huckabee's rapid rise, represented the best chance for the former Arkansas governor to break through with a win.

He will face tougher going in New Hampshire, where there are fewer evangelicals, and he has lingered well behind Romney and McCain in polls.

Romney, 60, a former governor of Massachusetts who has faced questions about his Mormon faith during the campaign, launched aggressive advertising campaigns against Huckabee and McCain in recent weeks.

(Additional reporting by Matthew Bigg, Andy Sullivan, Ellen Wulhorst, Deborah Charles and Ed Stoddard; Editing by David Wiessler)



source


What I find amazing is that the press has made such a big deal about this and the article says that only 220,000 dems showed up out of the whole state. How much money was spent for such few votes?
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captain_proton_au
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A Robot in Disguise

Yeah, I did a double take with that figure too

So in total around 1/2 million out of around 2.5 million possible voters, geesh, somewhere around 20 % :huh:


I think it was an article linked here at Sistertrek, that said Huckabee spent 400K on Iowa, Romney a whopping $7 mill. Is that right?, that would mean Romney ended up paying around $140 for each vote he finally got
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somerled
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Admiral MacDonald RN
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.
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Dandandat
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Time to put something here
Quote:
 
What I find amazing is that the press has made such a big deal about this and the article says that only 220,000 dems showed up out of the whole state. How much money was spent for such few votes?


That is how the Iowa caucuses system works, it’s not indicative of voter apathy. It is acknowledged that the caucuses system is flawed in this way but since it is tradition people don’t wish to change it.

So you can’t judge this type of system by voter turn out, so to judge money spend by such a low turn out is not a fair assessment. The money spent was what was indeed needed to get the turn out that they did. In fact the turn out this year was larger then in many years prior I believe.
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Hoss
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Don't make me use my bare hands on you.
It's all about the hype. Now Obama and Huchabee are in the lead going into the primaries. The 'hype' has been worth the money spent in recent times because of the publicity, not the votes. It was a media circus here for weeks if you didn't notice. They really don't care about the few thousand votes that they actually got in Iowa.
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Hoss
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Don't make me use my bare hands on you.
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

You make a statement llke this and start a thread called "Dumbing down of USA politics". Perhaps it has been dumbed down in your neck of the woods? Anyway, is that irony or hypocracy?
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Minuet
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somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

And bigotry rears it's ugly head again.......
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somerled
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Admiral MacDonald RN
38957
Jan 4 2008, 11:45 PM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

You make a statement llke this and start a thread called "Dumbing down of USA politics". Perhaps it has been dumbed down in your neck of the woods? Anyway, is that irony or hypocracy?

Actually, I agree, politics in Australia has been dumbed down too.

The telecast debates are not worth watching and target the lowest common denominator in the viewing audience.

But at least when we vote for the government (federal) the campaign officially only lasts a couple of months and not over a year , and everyone over 18 years old votes (it's the law :D and that's good thing too !!!).
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Hoss
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Don't make me use my bare hands on you.
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:57 AM
38957
Jan 4 2008, 11:45 PM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

You make a statement llke this and start a thread called "Dumbing down of USA politics". Perhaps it has been dumbed down in your neck of the woods? Anyway, is that irony or hypocracy?

Actually, I agree, politics in Australia has been dumbed down too.

The telecast debates are not worth watching and target the lowest common denominator in the viewing audience.

But at least when we vote for the government (federal) the campaign officially only lasts a couple of months and not over a year , and every votes (it's the law :D and that's good thing too !!!).

A) you contribute to the dumbness by your statements labeling the two candidate prejudicially.

B) these are not elections for office, these a party elections which we also find interesting. Perhaps because you don't have a President, you don't get that kind of thing.

C) forcing people to vote is not democratic and is a bad :rolleyes: thing.

And, D), why do you care? Watch something else.
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somerled
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Admiral MacDonald RN
Minuet
Jan 4 2008, 11:48 PM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

And bigotry rears it's ugly head again.......

How am I wrong ?

Huckabee is a religious nut , and played for churchgoing voters for all he is worth.

And Obama is definitely not white and has played that for all it is worth.



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Admiralbill_gomec
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38957
Jan 4 2008, 08:45 AM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

You make a statement llke this and start a thread called "Dumbing down of USA politics". Perhaps it has been dumbed down in your neck of the woods? Anyway, is that irony or hypocracy?

Sounds more like bigotry and racism to me.
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Hoss
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Don't make me use my bare hands on you.
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 09:03 AM
Minuet
Jan 4 2008, 11:48 PM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

And bigotry rears it's ugly head again.......

How am I wrong ?

Huckabee is a religious nut , and played for churchgoing voters for all he is worth.

And Obama is definitely not white and has played that for all it is worth.

Can you tell me any of the political stances of either one of these guys with out plagarizing some website? Or did you just here someone mention religion and race on your local news and then you made these statements based on ignorance?

I am niether a supporter of Huckabee nor Obama. But, I can tell you why politically.
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Minuet
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somerled
Jan 4 2008, 09:03 AM
Minuet
Jan 4 2008, 11:48 PM
somerled
Jan 4 2008, 08:03 AM
So what ?

A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

The only poll that counts in November.

And bigotry rears it's ugly head again.......

How am I wrong ?

Huckabee is a religious nut , and played for churchgoing voters for all he is worth.

And Obama is definitely not white and has played that for all it is worth.

Bigoted statement number 1 - being religious does not automatically make someone a "fruitloop" or a "nut". As far as I am aware there is nothing psychologically wrong with Mr. Huckabee.

Bigoted statement number 2 - "Coloured" is not a term that is used these days to describe American Blacks. They are black. Period. In addition I am unaware of any particular time that Mr. Obama has used the race card to get votes. Others, like commentators in newspapers, like to play up the race card. But I believe Mr. Obama has simply presented himself as a candidate for president to the entire country, not just those from his own ethnic background. To insinuate otherwise is to bring your own personal prejudices into the discussion. If you can provide a speech where he has said that people should vote for him because of his skin colour then I will withdraw this statement. But I highly doubt you will find it.
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Fesarius
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Admiral
Quote:
 
A fruitloop religious fanatic and a coloured man won a popularity contest in a tinniewinnie state.

Somerled,

I counted three in that one, maybe four. That was the most non-PC line I've read in years, right up there with "Nuke a gay whale for Jesus." You might consider making that one a bumper sticker. :evil1:
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whitestar
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Captain
Somerled, your comments here and the "Dumbing down" thread are just unbelievably insulting to our american members. I commend them all for their restraint. Everybody without exception but you, has taken to heart the recent rumblings regarding member behaviour under the guise of "leeway" in this forum. I wonder if you are stirring the pot or naturally rude and obnoxious, either way you stand out alone.
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