Obama and Huckabee Shine in Iowa

A political earthquake. That's how conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks described the Iowa caucus results in his column today. And he was not just talking about Barack Obama, but Mike Huckabee as well. Here is a little insight into some of the numbers that you may not have seen. First Obama. More men preferred Obama over Hillary. Same with women. Obama was the preferred candidate if you were 59 or younger. Every single income group chose Obama over Hillary. First time voters, liberals, moderates, issue voters, rural voters, you name it. Other than senior citizens and conservative democrats, Barack Obama bested Hillary Clinton in every single category the pollsters tracked. It was remarkable. But what about Huckabee? Men, women, young, old, rich or poor. Every single Republican demographic group other than moderates and non evangelical voters went for Mike Huckabee. It truly was what Brooks called a "Political Earthquake." So what does all of this mean? At this point who knows. But the results do offer up a few questions. First for the GOP. Is this the end of Fred Thompson? He tied John McCain who did not even compete in Iowa. And what about Rudy? Yes he is still running but he was beat by GOP fringe candidate Ron Paul. Will Romney continue to struggle in New Hampshire or will Obama siphon off enough independent voters from McCain allowing Mitt to be this elections "Comeback Kid?" Stay tuned. Now for the Dems. When will the Empire strike back? I cannot believe that the Clinton's will not respond. Remember the famous Clinton war room from the 92 election? Can Barack avoid a costly misstep exposing his relative inexperience? And finally, is Edwards toast? Who will defeated candidates Joe Biden and Chris Dodd support? We shall soon see. If you want more analysis, check out what my GOP friends Mike and Dee have to say over at their blogs. Yes they are partisan, and GOP... but pretty fair and accurate. You can also check out Barack Obama's after caucus speech over at Roy's Blog, Thin Places. It is excellent. Know this... we are in for a wild and woolly ride as all of this shakes out over the next few weeks, for both parties.