Even Obama's campaign was surprised by the Des Moines Register poll's large sample of independents

[antiimperialist]

The Washington Post has an article about Obama's success with independents, and this caught my attention:

Even Obama's campaign was surprised by the large sample of independents, and aides cautioned that it could be overblown. "We're not modeling it that high," senior Obama strategist Steve Hildebrand said of the independent pool. "We love the numbers in the Register poll, but we know this is going to be very tight."

That doesn't surprise me, since only 19% of 2004 Iowa voters in the Democratic side called themselves independents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010102318.html?hpid=topnews

[Lucinda]

1. I thought Obama had been running like he felt it was going to be tight

It's one of the few things that seemed to explain hitting JE as hard as he has been the past couple of days. Can't see him doing it at this time if he didnt feel he needed to.

I'd love to see what everyones internals are showing. :)

We'll know soon enough how it all settles out.

[snowbear]

2. Are there more Independent voters in Iowa than D's ??

....

[sandnsea]

3. He's doing well in CNN & other polls too

And they are ALL Democrats.

[fightindonkey]

4. Iowa Has The Lowest Turnout For Voting

Obama will not be #1, mark my words.