What the Iowa Caucus Results Mean

Obama has a commanding lead.. He is a remarkable orator, a very charismatic figure. His record is not quite as progressive as his rhetoric, but if he (or Edwards) is the nominee, I would vote Democrat in November. If it’s Clinton, with her hawkish politics and defense of extremely antilibertarian legislation such as the Patriot Act, I’ll vote for Cynthia McKinney on the Green ticket.

Edwards’s second-place showing is remarkable given the way he was outspent.

The marginal voices are being squished out. Neither Kucinich nor Mike Gravel got any showing at all, and Richardson, Biden and Dodd together couldn’t muster 3 percent. Ahead of time, Kucinich threw his support to Obama in the caucuses, and Nader to Edwards. Following the results, Dod and Biden dropped out.

Speaking of outspent, the very scary Mike Huckabee ran away with the GOP side, 34% to Romney’s 25, and Romney outspent him 3:1. And Ron Paul got 3 times as many delegates as Giuliani.

Much as I love the idea that you don’t have to spend your way to the nomination, I am extremely troubled by Huckabee’s beliefs. I don’t trust him to be the president of all of us.