Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses over the other Democratic candidates on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008.
While there were those who thought that either John Edwards or Hillary Clinton might be able to sway the undecided voters to their corner for this race to the White House, Obama pulled ahead when he received, according to the British Broadcast Company (BBC), 37.6 percent of the votes from the Iowa caucuses. The other figures, still according to the BBC’s graph, were 29.7 percent of the votes for Edwards and 29.5 percent for Clinton. Richardson’s results were 2.1 percent of the votes.
In terms of Iowa, the voices have chosen Obama. Soon the nation’s eyes will turn to New Hampshire for whom they will decide. While talking about both Iowa and the caucuses in New Hampshire, Obama spoke of core ideals in which he points out that America should show that the people have a stronger voice than that of the lobbyists. He spoke of the need for a president who is “honest about the choices and challenges we face…one who will tell you not what you want to hear but what you need to know.” He continued saying, “In New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that President for America.”
To cover both sides of the political spectrum, Mike Huckabee was the Republican winner of the Iowa caucuses with 34.3 percent of the votes. Romney earned 25.3 percent of the vote. Thompson (13.4 percent) and McCain (13.1 percent) were close but Thompson pulled in third. Giuliani was far behind with only 3.5 percent of the vote though he did not campaign in Iowa. Democrats Chris Dodd and Joe Biden bowed out of the race.
In one of his Iowa speeches, Huckabee thanked everyone who came “to convince the people of Iowa that they do have a choice, and that choice is to give America back to the people on Main Street, not just to the people on Wall Street. We can do that and we’re going to start right here in Iowa today.” He brought humor into the speech when referring to the funding he has for his campaign saying “I’m not the best funded candidate. I can’t buy you. I’ve got another thing. I can’t even rent you.” The audience laughed at this admission of how Huckabee’s funding is going. He continued to speak about the Iowa Straw Poll saying that the poll is “not to vote for a straw man.” He continued saying “It’s giving the voters of Iowa a chance to prove that they are mature voters, thoughtful and savvy about the political process.”
The next campaign spot that is coming up is New Hampshire with their primary on Tuesday, Jan. 8. This is followed by the Michigan primary on Jan. 15, Nevada caucuses and the Republican South Carolina primary on Jan. 19, the Democratic South Carolina primary on Jan. 26 and the Florida primary on Jan. 29, with Feb. 5 being the primaries for multiple states including California, New York and New Jersey.
Editor’s Note: Quotes are from videos of Iowa speeches. Statistics are from the BBC.