Iowa Has Spoken

Everyone pretty much agrees that Iowans were voting for change above all when they stood up for the candidates of their choice in precincts all over the state last night. The change agents on both sides finished 1-2, with both first place finishers--Obama and Huckabee--soundly trouncing the rest of the field. Edwards narrowly defeated Clinton for 2nd place on the Democratic side and appears to be taking the message that it's him or Obama to the people of New Hampshire. Romney, unable to convert enough evangelicals, still finished 2nd among Republicans and now looks to New Hampshire to confirm his status as a change agent in Washington...particularly when compared with McCain, so long a fixture in Washington.

We'll see if Edwards is successful in replacing the Washington insider, Hillary, as Obama's main competition now. It will be a mighty uphill battle, given her advantage in organization, connections, and money. He and his wife are comparing it to the Seabiscuit phenomenon back in the days of the Depression...basically, he's the "people's horse." It reminds me equally of the little engine that could, huffing and puffing its way to keep up with 2 streamlined supersonic trains. But Americans, myself included, love an underdog and so we'll have to see if the people rally to his side in the coming few weeks.

And Romney will try to convince those from the Granite state that they can no longer afford to put the government in the hands of such a Washington insider as McCain...that they should trust his proven management expertise to right this ship of state. Unlike Edwards, he has the money, the organization, and many connections with corporate America. He can stay in the campaign for some time longer. But what he apparently can't do is get most Americans to trust a Mormon.

Being Mormon myself, that's a hard pill to swallow... but I took a long look at the results of each precinct caucus in Iowa (published in the New York Times this morning) and Huckabee bested Romney by a far wider margin in those he won than Obama did with his competitors in the precincts he carried. Either Iowans didn't like Romney's so-called attack ads, or they didn't like his religion. I hope it was the former. Otherwise, it might appear that, while racism has declined, bigotry is still alive and well in our country.

In any case, how did you heed the Iowa Caucus returns? Did you ignore them altogether? Did you forego them for another BCS bowl game? I decided, yesterday morning at the last minute, to kick off the political season with an "Iowa Caucus Watch Party." So, with the support of my husband, I called and invited around 20 couples and about a third showed up. Even though the results were announced all too quickly, we had a great time talking and eating...and we even played a quick game I put together trying to match candidates to some of their most humorous or outlandish quotes.

This primary year is steaming full speed ahead, but 2008 is too important a year to ignore or dismiss. I encourage all of you to start paying attention now if you haven't already tuned in and take part in the political process. Tune in to tomorrow night's debate on ABC at 7 pm (Eastern time)... even if you can only stomach it by throwing a party!