Iowa talking, the early word [and the last]

By Creature

[Bumped and updated - many, many times]

Early word: heavy turnout among the Dems. The precinct where David Gregory is stationed had 86 people attend in '04, tonight 267. That's crazy. Conventional wisdom says this helps Obama, but it's possible Clinton draws some of these new voters as well.

Also the early word, from totally unreliable entrance polling, has Obama and Clinton battling it out with little word on Edwards. On the GOP side no early surprises: it's Huckabee and Romney battling it out.

Stay tuned. This should be interesting.

Update: Wow, it's 9:00 PM and MSNBC just called the GOP for Huckabee. This is huge, though not unexpected, seeing as how much time and money Romney spent in Iowa. Also it's huge because now we know Iowa couldn't give a flying fuck about evolution or reality, in general. But, hey, it is the GOP after all. Go Jesus!

On the Dem side so far it's a three way tie. The spin will be awesome: "Hey, look we're all winners."

Update II: It's shaping up to be Obama's night. NBC has projected Obama the winner and Hillary looks to be settling in to a solid third. Hope rules.

And, P.S., Rachel Maddow on the panel for MSNBC rocks. She's throwing Matthews' conventional wisdom right back at him. She is impressive.

Update III: The spin begins.

Joe Trippi for Edwards: It's a strong night for Edwards and they feel good. What the hell else would he say? He is picking up on Matthews' spin that Clinton in third means 70% voted against her and for change. Looks like Trippi wants to ride Obama's coattails and spin a victory, but, again, that's his job.

Update IV: Last word, same as the first: turnout. When all is said in done the story is the turnout. It was up 82% for the Dems. As I said at the start, that's crazy.

Update V: The ledes are in writing.

Reuters:

Barack Obama took a big step on Thursday toward becoming the first black U.S. president when his campaign for change caught fire in Iowa and swept him past Hillary Clinton in the opening Democratic nominating contest.

AP:

Sen. Barack Obama swept to victory in the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Hillary Rodham Clinton to third place and taking a major stride in a historic bid to become the nation's first black president.

NYT:

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a one-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 what appeared to be a record turnout of voters who rejected the criticism that he did not have enough experience.

We are watching history. Enjoy and appreciate.


(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)