Tonight in Iowa

I had thought tonight in Iowa would be a lot of ho-hum. Now I think I was very wrong. Here are some reasons why:

* Exit polls apparently showed that--despite all the media reports on the success of the Surge--the Iraq war/occupation is still issue number one for voters. (And nobody is forgetting that Hillary has consistently refused to admit that her pro-war vote was wrong.)

* The turnout of Democrats was relatively huge.(Maybe national stupor is not so widespread after all.)

* Young folks (under 30) are listening to Obama's call for real change and following him in droves. 57% of voters in that age bracket voted for Obama tonight.

* The fact that Iowa's independent voters went big for Obama is a good omen for the rest of the primary season. (Considering the power of the Clinton machine, I was somewhat dumbfounded that she came in third.)

* Interesting that the two winners, Obama and Huckabee, had been criticized for being outsiders who did not have experience. (I love Obama's riposte in recent months--that Cheney and Rumsfeld were men with lots and lots of experience.)

New Hampshire, here they come (minus at least three candidates so far.)