Obama and Huckabee Win in Iowa

Mrs. Clinton cannot be pleased and Governor Romney may have a tough decision if he doesn't beat Governor Huckabee in NH. The media have focused enormous attention on Iowa, but in the scheme of things, the race is far from over because so much can happen between January and November. David Brooks writes an insightful analysis in today's NY Times.

I have a hard time saying President Huckabee, although he appeals to me because of his values, but both he and Obama are very short on foreign policy capacity. I suppose we could say the same about President (Governor) Bush and President (Governor) Clinton before they were elected.

"Sen. Barack Obama won a fiercely contested three-way race for the Democratic presidential contest in Iowa, bidding to make history as the first black U.S. president. Mike Huckabee got the Republican nod, buoyed by a huge turnout by evangelical Christians in the Iowa caucuses, as Iowa voters rewarded upstart candidates over the establishment's picks.

Former Sen. John Edwards looked to take second place and national front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton was a close third with nearly all precincts counted. A projected 220,000 Democrats -- a record -- participated in the nation's first nomination contest.

Both winners emphasized positive messages of hope and opportunity in an election that set records for turnout. While Mr. Obama was competitive throughout the contest, Mr. Huckabee's decisive win over Mitt Romney came after he was outspent by millions of dollars."