(The Iowa caucus edition)

Winners

More than 346,000 Iowans — an historic turnout — sent a message Jan. 3 to Washington, big money and the country when they voted Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee winners of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. Obama won the Democratic caucuses securing 38 percent of the vote, outpacing John Edwards (30 percent), Hillary Clinton (29 percent), Bill Richardson (2 percent) and Joe Biden (1 percent). Huckabee won the Republican caucuses with 34 percent, defeating rivals Mitt Romney (25 percent), Fred Thompson (13 percent), John McCain (13 percent) and Ron Paul (10 percent). While the pundits have had a week to spin the Iowa results (remember, we Iowans haven’t always picked the overall winners), a few facts are undeniable: First, Iowans have the guts to champion underdogs in spite of the influence of big money; second, female voters didn’t support Clinton, they supported Obama; and third, Democrats are more motivated than their Republican counterparts to get to the polls to vote for change.

Though history shows young voters are unreliable at best, there was no denying their impact last week in the Iowa caucuses. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), 13 percent of eligible Iowans (Democrats and Republicans) under the age of 30, or about 65,000 people, participated in the Jan. 3 caucuses. Youth turnout (17-29 year-olds) shot up to 13 percent in 2008 from 4 percent in 2004 and 3 percent in 2000. No candidate benefited from the youth movement more than did Sen. Barack Obama — who many young voters saw as the bonafide candidate for change. Their overwhelming support for him was evident as 57 percent of the 17-29 year-old Democrats supported Obama, according to CNN and Fox. Young people made up 22 percent of the Democratic caucus goers, up 17 percent from 2004. But on the Republican side, young people made up only 11 percent of the voter population.

Finally, in 2008, the 40th anniversary of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., let it be known that although 98 percent of Iowa is white, we’re not all backwards, prejudice hicks, which is evident after electing Sen. Barack Obama as the winner of the Iowa caucuses. Obama, to his credit, didn’t do what other black candidates, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who failed to win Iowa in the past did — play the race card. He’s too intelligent for that, and so are Iowa voters. Television talk show host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke in his monologue the night of the Iowa caucuses that expressed his dismay over Obama winning Iowa, saying something like, “the Beatles had more black people in their group than there are in Iowa.” No, America, the joke’s on you.

Losers

Every Iowa caucus has its share of bitter defeats, and the 2008 version was no different, as well funded and media savvy candidates Hillary Clinton (endorsed by The Des Moines Register) and Mitt Romney took a beating at the Iowa polls. Both candidates poured big money into Iowa only to register distant third- and second-place finishes respectively. For the last month or so, Clinton desperately tried to position herself as the candidate of change. But Iowans saw through her, recognizing that Obama and John Edwards were legitimate agents of change. Then there’s the whole issue of Clinton’s baggage and her being the most polarizing Democratic candidate, which flies in the face of those who argue that she is the most electable Democrat. Romney’s brief post-caucus speech, however, suggested even more dire straits for the former Massachusetts governor who was unconvincing in telling supporters that despite spending millions of his own money in Iowa, and leading in the polls in late summer, that he wasn’t disappointed by losing to Mike Huckabee by 9 percent.

While unprecedented numbers of Iowans attended the caucuses Jan. 3, a number of would-be voters — including many first-time caucus goers — were turned away because polling sites weren’t staffed adequately to register them. Though officials asked the public to show up at their polling sites at 6:30 p.m. in order to be registered before the 7 p.m. deadline, the reality was unless you were standing in line shortly after 6 p.m. at many large urban caucus venues, you were at risk of not getting in. Reports of hundreds of people being turned away at 7 p.m. were commonplace last Thursday. It’s likely many of the first-time caucus goers who didn’t get registered on time were youth, and we can only hope it doesn’t discourage them from participating in future caucuses. Next time, officials need to be better prepared so everybody has a chance to have their voice heard.

We’re sure the sting of getting thumped at the Iowa caucuses was bad enough last Thursday for supporters of Democratic candidates and U.S. Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, but their quick decision to drop out of the race left little to be desired for those who spent money and time supporting them and their getaway planes at Des Moines International Airport. CV

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