It was all about stopping Edwards

[Prefer]

That is why the others threw their delegates to obama. They wanted to stop Edwards because they didn't want him to be seen as running away with it.

Note that Edwards was peaking out of the chute... He was stopped. They are afraid of him. Cable was talking Edwards down. They are afraid.

[kurth]

1. Edwards is the most serious threat to corporatists in decades

[Faygo Kid]

2. I back Edwards, and I don't think so.

Geez, I give credit where credit is due. Obama won this thing, and it's obvious that his supporters weren't there just to stop somebody else. I must admit, as a 55+ white male, this is exciting stuff, particularly the enthusiasm of the young folks.

John Edwards, whatever happens from here, is my hero for putting the right issues front and center.

[Prefer]

point is

obama got artificial support as peoples defense against edwards. so it is good that it shows that edwards is the one they are trying to stop by gaming the system.

it is also good for edwards, perhaps best, that he doesn't now have the pressure to sort of pretend he is president until the election. obama is the story now and it's all eyes on obama, and edwards is in a closing position.

i haven't felt a connection there. the corporatist ties scare me. the practiced hand movements are off putting. from obama i have heard bright skies painted, with no recognition that corporate "personhood" is the problem. i look forward to now hearing more about obama.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. I thought it was about Dennis Kucinich being evil.

Which is it?

[HughMoran]

4. His second place over Hillary is great!

We should be celebrating - he did great tonight.

[Ninga]

What ever it was.....it was. For tonight, we congratulate Obama. But tomorrow is another

day.

Bill Clinton got only got 6% in Iowa in 1992. 6%, in Iowa and 8 years in the White House.

Not to worry, keep the faith.

:hi:

[bdamomma]

15. yes, you never know things could change.

[Ninga]

5. dupe

[H2O Man]

6. comic genius

[ShaneGR]

7. It's simple, Dennis Kucinich played King Maker... I don't know why... just saying

Because that's what happened.

[Occam Bandage]

32. Obama won by 8%. DK came in with less than 1%. Even if every DK supporter

voted for Obama (and given the "oh hell no" reaction here on DU, that's unlikely) he's hardly a kingmaker.

[midnight]

8. I'm a bit confused about what happens next. But doesn't

Edwards get to keep campainging?

[Maggie_May]

9. Edwards is going to do great!

He is still in the game and its way to early.

[amandabeech]

10. I think that the media, representing corporate interests, stopped Edwards.

Both Obama and Clinton get gobs of corporate and Wall Street dough. There was an excellent thread over the holidays on that subject.

Something about Obama sets my hair on end. I simply don't know if I can vote for him, and I've never had that feeling about a Dem before even though I've held my nose to vote for half of the candidates since 1976. He just frightens me, and I don't know why.

Maybe I fear that he will dump the social security that I know that I will need in a few years.

[smoogatz]

11. I'm pretty sure it was really about stopping Hillary.

Edwards was just collateral damage. In fact, the virtual three-way tie in Iowa doesn't prove a goddamn thing, except that Hillary isn't exactly riding some kind of wave of invulnerability straight to the nomination. It's going to be a dogfight right up 'til super Tuesday: the only question is, who's got the meanest dog.

[demo dutch]

14. Repugs want Obama, so they can play the race card! Don't be fooled

[HughMoran]

19. Obama 8% better than Hillary is big. Huckabee only 9% more than Mittens

...

[cali]

37. Three way tie? Not. Even. Close.

Obama won by 8 pts and that is what is known as a decisive victory. It wasn't about stopping anyone. There was genuine enthusiasm for Obama.

[demo dutch]

12. Self delete

[spanone]

13. who are 'they'....these are democrats who voted...don't buy it.

:shrug:

[HughMoran]

16. .

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[WilliamPitt]

17. If so, it was smart on their part.

The other candidates, I mean. Edwards has been campaigning in Iowa like he's been running for Governor, i.e. super-local and grass-roots, and for a lot longer than the others. If they were able to stop him even after he spent so much time and effort there, well, that's what they were supposed to do if they could.

It's politics. Bring a helmet. Ya know?

[Prefer]

23. helmet huh?

yes i know... i'm over it now

my extreme bitterness was at the fact of yet again watching another important return result that yet again goes sour in front of my eyes. being progressive is getting to be a bit like rooting for cleveland... still waiting to win all these years.

[WilliamPitt]

26. "...like rooting for cleveland..."

Ouch.

;)

:hug:

It's a long-ass race. Winning comes way later.

[Marrah_G]

35. This Red Sox fan will tell you........

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO WORTH THE WAIT!

:hi:

[Hoof Hearted]

18. Yeah, especially Kucinich - he's such a corporatist! He's MSM all the way!

:crazy:

[theHandpuppet]

20. Yep... totally agree

And I find this a depressing sign.

[AmBlue]

21. Interesting...

How the story is all about how Hillary got her ass handed to her by Obama on MSM. Like Edwards isn't even there at all when he was massively outspent in Iowa by both of them and suffered a near MSM blackout. What Edwards did in Iowa is remarkable, but they won't bother to cover it.

I guess the trend continues.

[Johonny]

22. I agree

Edwards speech was such a home run, compare that to what ever the heck Hillary is doing now.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

24. I heard this morning on the Today Show that Republicans would change to Democrats and vote for

Obama. I wonder if that's what happened?

[OzarkDem]

30. It has, and not to help Dems win the GE

The Iowa caucus system is very easy to influence from the outside. Same thing happened in 2004. New Hampshire is often different.

[mnhtnbb]

33. Some of the caucus reports from DU'ers confirm this..Republicans at their precinct voting Obama

[LSK]

25. I disagree

The people voting here were just ordinary folks, not some vast conspiracy.

Many people are just tired of the gridlock and partisanship and Obama appears to transcend that.

[JackRiddler]

44. "Gridlock" and "partisanship" would be a good idea compared to tyranny, no?

In the six years after 9/11 an anthraxed Congress united to support a war of aggression, a radical attack on individual rights and Constitutional government, and the plunder of trillions in public funds diverted to war, crony capitalism and bogus terror. What partisanship? The majority of Democrats rolled over for all of it. What gridlock? How many Bush initiatives were stopped?

Are Americans experimental mice conditioned to react to key words like "unity"?

How about a principled stand against war, corporatism and fascism?

[LaPera]

27. True progressives like Edwards scares the shit out of republicans, corporate media & the staus quo

[Avalux]

28. lol!

:rofl:

[bbgrunt]

29. well, i really didn't expect dennis to play that tune.

[Occam Bandage]

31. *rolls eyes*

Yes, they're terrified of his empty coffers, his nonexistent staffing outside Iowa, and his double-digit deficits in every other state.

Just can't wrap your head around the fact that more people liked Obama, can you?

[Romulox]

41. Don't forget his indefensible Senate voting record! nt

[onehandle]

34. Dunno, about that, but I do know the GOP wants to stop Edwards.

He's already been vetted in the last election. They would have little ammo.

They're afraid of losing more ground in Congress and Edwards has 50 state coattails.

The GOP knows they have little chance at the Presidency.

[cali]

36. inaccurate.

first of all the meme that the corporatists are afraid of Edwards is amusing but wrong. They aren't. They're quite confident in their abilities to navigate any admin. Sad, but true. And there were relatively few votes for Richardson. Biden, Dodd and Kucinich weren't even a blip. Obama would have won without a single one of those votes.

But continue consoling yourself with a myth. It's the normal behavior of supporters of candidates that didn't win.

[FatDave]

39. Cali, I thought by now you'd understand how hte Iowa caucuses work

If a candidate doesn't have 15% of the room (assuming >4 delegates up for grabs), they are deemed nonviable and their supporters have the chance to change their support to another candidate. So in most precincts, 14% is as good as 0%, which is why Biden, Richardson and Dodd showed so poorly. In a straight vote, they would have had higher percentages.

On the subject of republicans changing their affiliation to democrat to vote for Obama, that's what NBC was reporting from their entrance polls. I saw huge numbers of people changing their affiliation, but have no way of knowing if they were changing from republican or independent, and did not follow each of them to see who they ended up supporting.

Assuming NBC's numbers are correct, that doesn't necessarily mean that republicans are trying to get the candidate they think they can beat. I'd need a lot more evidence to buy that. It's possible that Obama is just a popular democrat among republicans who are feeling abandoned by their party. Anybody remember "Reagan Democrats"? Well, maybe there's Obama Republicans this time around.

Of course that goes completely against conventional wisdom, which says that republicans crossingover would likely support Edwards, so I don't know what the fuck's up. In the end Obama's victory was probably largely due to the young voters actually turning up when it was time. I hope this is a sign of things to come and that an up and coming generation finally gives a shit.

[OneGrassRoot]

42. Doesn't it make sense that corporate America, including media,

would rather avoid having to deal with a candidate who has so vocally railed against corporate greed and control?

I don't know for sure what Corporate America thinks, nor do you, as we are talking about a huge chunk of people and structures. It simply seems common sense that they would not be happy to give him air time because his message is very much against their interests.

Obama had a great showing and I take nothing away from him whatsoever. His message of hope evidently resonates strongly, and I like it as well. I, personally, simply resonate more strongly with the fight which I believe is in front of us. That's me personally. And Obama may indeed fight the fight.

I would love to be so 100% confident of things, including how Corporate America views Edwards (or any other candidate), as you seem to be the majority of the time. Life would be so much simpler.

[cali]

45. I have a pretty good idea of what corporate America thinks

about this. I grew up in the heart of CEO land, New Canaan, CT and my family still lives there. I talked about this weeks ago with both my mother and one of my sisters. Their take is the same as mine. The people they know are not worried about anyone but Huckabee. They think he's a bumpkin fundy and they detest that.

[Fading Captain]

38. NPR has been calling Edwards

"the Angry man" and Obama the "hopeful candidate."

That tells you all you need to know about media bias.

[lisainmilo]

40. He will continue and We will continue to support the PEOPLES President!

John Edwards all the way to the WH....
Continue to carry on JRE!

[KansDem]

43. The BBC interviewed some conservative American journalist this morning about the Iowa caucuses

He mentioned something about each candidate, both Democratic and Republican, but when he talked about Edwards, he compared him to Huey Long and his "class-warfare" approach to campaigning.

Yes, corporatists and conservatives are very afraid of Edwards...

[PerpetuallyDazed]

46. Obama's dirty campaign tricks?

Last night on Wikipedia some user had inserted a scrolling
Obama picture with the text "Winner of Iowa Caucus"
under it... I wonder how long this had been up, exactly,
before the entry was fixed?  

Screen cap here:
http://xs123.xs.to/xs123/08015/WikiObamaCap.png

[Prefer]

47. Anyone change their mind on this lately?

I am seeing lots of threads from others who agree Edwards is being kept down.

[AzDar]

48. He poses the biggest threat to the status quo..a status quo 'some' are profiting from quite

handsomely.
Go, Johnny, GO!!