Yesterday, Barak Obama surprised the experts with a convincing victory in the Iowa caucus, winning 38 percent of the Democratic vote, followed by John Edwards at 30 percent, and Hillary Clinton who only managed to reel in 29 percent. This makes Obama the first black candidate to ever win a primary. And it happened in a state which is 95 per cent white and rural – hardly a traditional battleground for Black political candidates. With a whopping two-to-one ratio against the Republican Party, it seems clear that the Democratic party is going to sweep Iowa in the presidential elections (a key swing state for the past two elections). However, winning this caucus does not guarantee that Obama will be the final front-runner for the Democratic Party in this November’s presidential elections. He’s got a long way to go and his next destination is New Hampshire’s primary, which is coming up this Tuesday.
What makes this victory so incredible is that Obama was all but written out of the primary by political powerhouse, Hillary Clinton. Winning Iowa catapults Obama to the forefront of the Democratic party with vigorous momentum, leaving former first lady Hillary Clinton scrambling to come up with a contingency plan. Furthermore, the youth came out in support of Obama in record numbers. I don’t know if it was his facebook group, Oprah, youtube, or what, but the under-30 crowd was in full effect, supporting his campaign. Another interesting figure was Obama’s margin of victory. He didn’t just win, he pretty much obliterated the competition. And for the first Black person to ever win a primary, this is an extraordinary feat, indeed. Go back and peep last years interview with Jesse Jackson - he was the first person of color ever to come close to winning a primary but now, Obama has sealed the deal. Pay very close attention brothers and sisters, we’re witnessing history!
4 comments:
I'm super excited about Obama.
Just for the record, according to Wikipedia:
In 1984: "Jackson garnered 3.5 million votes and won five primaries and caucuses, including Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia and one of two separate contests in Mississippi."
In 1988: "He captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests; seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont). Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary. Some news accounts credit him with 13 wins. Briefly, after he won 55% of the vote in the Michigan Democrat caucus, he was considered the frontrunner for the nomination, as he surpassed all the other candidates in total number of pledged delegates.
I think Im most floored by the fact most of the analysts, polls and media following supported a Clinton, Obama, Edwards line up. And it was completely flipped on its head.
This election is going to be quite interesting.
thanks Eli. It appears that I was mis-informed. Thankyou for the correction. Today's results about New Hampshire are interesting. How do you think this impacts Obama's momentum?
The only conclusion I can draw is: don't listen to the political correspondants
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