Obama, Huckabee win first 2008 vote

By John Whitesides, Reuters Political Correspondent | January 4, 2007

Huckabee and Obama (Reuters)

Barack Obama took the first
big step to winning the Democratic nomination on Thursday with
a victory in Iowa, while underdog Mike Huckabee capped a
stunning political rise to beat Republican rival Mitt Romney.

Obama, an Illinois senator bidding to make U.S. history as
the first black president, won the first Democratic test on the
road to the White House with a comeback triumph over New York
Sen. Hillary Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards, who were in a tight battle for second.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist
minister, beat Romney fairly easily despite being dramatically
outspent by the wealthy former Massachusetts governor and
venture capitalist.

Both Obama and Huckabee once trailed their better-known
rivals Clinton and Romney in their race to be on the November
election ballot, but rode a wave of grass-roots enthusiasm to
victories in the most hotly contested presidential campaign in
Iowa history.

The 2008 campaign is the most open presidential race in
more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice president
seeking their party’s nomination.

For the winner in Iowa, the prize is valuable momentum and
at least a temporary claim to the front-runner’s slot in their
battle to win the party’s presidential nomination in the
November election.

All eyes now turn to New Hampshire, which holds the next
contest on Tuesday and where Romney and Clinton will face
high-pressure bids to revive their candidacies.

The loss was a heavy blow to Clinton, the former first lady
who a few months ago was considered in some quarters the almost
certain Democratic nominee. She now faces immense pressure to
turn around her campaign in New Hampshire over the next five
days.

Edwards, who at one time led polls in Iowa and finished a
strong second here during a failed 2004 presidential bid, also
will face questions about the viability of his candidacy as he
goes forward.

Obama’s win effectively makes him the candidate to beat
among Democrats, and a win next week in New Hampshire could put
him in prime position to capture the nomination. The next big
contest would be in South Carolina, where more than half of the
voters in the Democratic primary are likely to be black.

IOWA KICKS OFF RACE

Iowa voters filled gathering spots in more than 1,700
precincts around the state to declare a presidential preference
in Iowa’s caucuses, which open the state-by-state battle to
choose candidates in the November 4 election to succeed
President George W. Bush.

In the Democratic caucuses, voters debated their options
and cajoled their neighbors to switch to their candidate.
Republicans conducted essentially a preference poll, casting
votes soon after the caucus begins.

For Republicans, Huckabee’s upset reshaped a race where no
candidate has been able to claim front-runner status.

Iowa, where a sizable bloc of religious conservatives had
fueled Huckabee’s rapid rise, represented perhaps the best
chance for the former Arkansas governor to break through with a
win.

He will face tougher going in New Hampshire, where there
are fewer evangelicals, and he has lingered well behind Romney
and Arizona Sen. John McCain in polls.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts who has faced
questions about his Mormon faith during the campaign, launched
aggressive advertising campaigns against Huckabee and McCain in
recent weeks.

Iowa’s opening contest in the nominating battle has
traditionally served to winnow the presidential field of
laggards and elevate some surprise contenders.

Record turnout was reported by the Democrats, who said more
than 210,000 turned out to surpass the 124,000 Iowans who
participated in 2004. Republicans could challenge their record
of 87,000 caucus participants in 2000.

(Additional reporting by Matthew Bigg, Andy Sullivan, Ellen
Wulhorst, Deborah Charles and Ed Stoddard; Editing by David
Wiessler)

(For more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters
“Tales from the Trail: 2008” online at
http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)