Obama, Huckabee win Iowa

By Patricia Chambers

Friday, January 11, 2008 2:02 PM MST

Iowa voters not only turned out in droves Thursday (Jan. 3), but they voted for candidates who represent a radical change from President George W. Bush — Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee.

Obama, who could be the first African American elected president of the United States, rounded up 37 percent of the Democratic vote. John Edwards received 30 percent of the Democratic vote — one percent more than the supposed front runner, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, captured 34 percent of the Republican vote, beating Mitt Romney's 25 percent and Sen. John McCain's 13 percent.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was the only member of the remaining Democratic field to make a showing with 2 percent of the vote. Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd both announced they would withdraw from the Presidential campaign after the Iowa votes were totaled.

Obama's ability to win by a 7 percent margin in a predominantly White state (94 percent of the population) and only 2.3 percent Black could change the odds in the upcoming New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

"Entrance" pools reported by MSNBC at the Iowa Caucuses showed that more than 50 percent of voters were first-time caucus voters.

Nearly twice as many of the state's 600,000 voters participated in Thursday's Caucuses than in the 2004 presidential election — about 220,000 of the state's Democrats and about 80,000 Republican voters.

Both Obama and Huckabee made moving acceptance speeches and both told the crowds of supporters that their victory represented a change in American politics.

Huckabee said the vote "is going to start a prairie fire of change" from an American electorate "hungry for leadership."

Referring to the fact that Romney spent $7 million on advertisements in Iowa compared to his $1.4 million budget, Huckabee said, "We the people are the are the ruling class in America."

Obama, whose campaign slogan is "Obama: Change we can believe in " called the Iowa Caucuses "a defining moment in history."

"That's how we will change America," Obama said. "the people will choose hope over fear. Change is coming to America."


Taos delegate ready for Democratic Convention		State Police Lt. arrested in Rio Rancho

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