Iowa caucus night fun
The mood was wildly ecstatic at the Obama headquarters and post-caucus party. Hopeful inspiration was added to the cheering and shouting after Obama's victory speech. After watching the three top Democrats I only saw one who sounded like a President last night.
I watched the caucus in a Clinton Iowa precinct after giving a ride to a college freshman caucusing for the first time. She's originally from another part of Iowa and decided to caucus after hearing Obama speak at her college.
In the precinct I watched, Obama had the most supporters after the first count. In the second round the Dodd and Kucinich supporters switched over to Obama. But the Biden group and most of the Richardson group went with Edwards. That gave Edwards just a few more supporters and one extra delegate over Obama. Despite that precinct, Obama won Clinton county.
It was easy to see right away that Obama's supporters included more young people and was more racially diverse than the groups backing other candidates. Almost all of the Clinton group was white and over 50. My guess is that Clinton was focusing on the list of people who usually caucus, but that precinct, like many others around the state, had record turn-out.
I can understand why young people are drawn to Obama's message of hope and change. Obama talking about political values is an important departure from the Clintonian approach of focusing on small, poll-tested measures that we've constantly seen from the Democratic Party since 1994. We have an entire generation of young voters who came of age in a Democratic Party that lacks a spokesperson who speaks with conviction about its core values. A hodge podge of proposals and promises is no replacement for a compelling vision for the future.
Volunteering yesterday was a lot of fun. I'll write more when I'm back home.