[1499] Of Huckabee and Obama won

If in the end it is down to these two politicians, there will be no contemplation at all for me: it is Obama all the way:

DES MOINES — Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a first-term Democratic senator trying to become the nation’s first African-American president, rolled to victory in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday night, lifted by a record turnout of voters who embraced his promise of change.

The victory by Mr. Obama, 46, amounted to a startling setback for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 60, of New York, who just months ago presented herself as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. The result left uncertain the prospects for John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, who had staked his second bid for the White House on winning Iowa. [Obama Takes Iowa in a Big Turnout as Clinton Falters; Huckabee Victor. NYT. January 4 2008]

With Obama winning the first race, one thing may be clear: skin color does not matter!

In the Republican camp, Ron Paul performed way better then Rudy Giuliani. Looks like the libertarian is going to outlive the mayor. This is very impressive given how much financial back Mr. Giuliani has compared to Ron Paul. In other words, Guiliani is humiliated.

This blog shows why the victory over Giuliani is so sweet:

It was mid-May, and the former mayor of New York was riding high following one of the early debates among the Republican presidential candidates. The primo sound bite had been a snap to identify: Giuliani’s outraged, impassioned reply to Paul’s assertion that U.S. foreign policy, especially the periodic bombing of Iraq in the aftermath of 1991’s Gulf War, was to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Giuliani, not waiting to be called upon, seized the moment by terming Paul’s comment “an extraordinary statement” and urging the Texas congressman to retract it (which Paul did not).

To give Paul his due, even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 — when the emotional response to the assault was at its rawest — serious scholars had begun hashing over the role played by American policy in the Mideast, particularly long-standing support for Israel, in fueling Islamic extremism and hatred for the U.S. But in the format of a candidate debate — where rhetorical zingers count far more than lengthy discourse — Paul’s remark amounted to a grooved fast ball down the middle, and the consensus at the time was that Giuliani parked it.

As MSNBC’s online political note put it at the time, Giuliani may want to “hire out Paul for the campaign trail — he could be the Washington Generals to Rudy’s Globetrotters” (i.e., the patsy willing to get beaten in every game).

That was then, this is now. In Iowa, Paul, 10%; Giuliani, 4%. [Ron Paul gets some revenge. Top of the Ticket. January 4 2008]

Paul’s performance is also this: a middle finger to Fox News!

For the result itself:

IOWA RESULTS
DEMOCRATS (official)

Barack Obama – 37.6%
John Edwards – 29.7%
Hillary Clinton – 29.5%
Bill Richardson – 2.1%

REPUBLICANS (96% complete)

Mike Huckabee – 34.3%
Mitt Romney – 25.3%
Fred Thomson – 13.4%
John McCain – 13.1%
Ron Paul – 10.0%
Rudy Giuliani – 3.5%

[Huckabee and Obama take Iowa wins. BBC News. January 4 2008]

The NYT has the full result for the Iowa race.

The rise of Huckabee, is worrying. His social and economic opinion are bad news for all libertarians. If Ron Paul does not make it, I will go for Romney.

But damn! Ron Paul did well despite mounting criticism directed against him in the last few weeks.

Next stop: the “Live Free or Die” state. You cannot get anymore libertarian than that!