I'm listening to the live coverage on WNYC.

Supposedly Obama has already won two of the five billion caucus sites in Iowa.

Can this really be happening?

Huckabounceback?

Why is NPR projecting Huckabee to be the winner?

Because the Crescent News Network is?

Way to go, independent thinkers.

MSNBC has Huck winning, with Clinton, Obama and Edwards in a virtual tie.

Obama the projected winner!

Glinda's evil twin is defeated.

HOORAY!

This is kinda terrifying.

If it's Huckabee vs. Hillary or Obama, what the hell am I supposed to do?

I would almost insist that Guiliani or McCain run on a third-party ticket. I could never vote for Bloomberg, but...

PS - Just saw Huckabee's campaign manager Rollins on FNC. What an utter and total douche. Never in my life would I support a Huckabee candidancy. The candidate is bad enough, but knowing he has totaly *bleeps* like that managing things seals the deal.

Describing Rollins as a "douche" is being too charitable.

For all the Huck haters: I think his win here is the best thing to happen to you all. It will motivate the supporters of Rudy and McCain to get out there in the upcoming primaries. My main concern about the Rudy candidacy is that people that like him, and would vote for him, aren't regular primary voters. People who vote in Republican primaries come out and choose the most conservative candidate--in this case Huck. I'm sure Rudy can get the numbers to win, I just don't have confidence in his voters showing up. Huck's Iowa win might motivate otherwise uninterested voters to show up.

Huckabee is the most conservative candidate?

Now there's a cringeworthy thought.

Tancredo must be kicking himself in the ass right about now.

ALIPAC=lame online kibbitzers

And I think we can all thank the CFG-at least in part-for this result.

C'mon people, get on the huck wagon...

He is, Gerard, especially in his language, the way he talks about religion all the time. Let's be frank, it appeals to a large segment of the Republican electorate. But the fact is, the Republican party is a pretty evenly divided coalition. It's just that the religious side shows up to vote while the fiscal/foreign policy side is like "eh, it's raining, I'm staying in". This will motivate people whose priorities are different than Huck's.

I don't see how you can list your primary concern as illegal aliens/immigration/borders, yet still vote for Huckabee.

That's akin to Scoop Jackson war hawks going in and voting for Dennis Kucinich.

I know this is the same state where Pat Robertson came in second, and where Alan Keyes got some absurd percentage of the vote-but it makes no sense whatsoever.

I think about Obama winning...and my head hurts. So his relative inexperience isn't a liability?

Karol,

Like you, I'm afraid the religious/ cultural conservatives won't go for Giuliani. That they're all lining up behind Huck 'cause he does that nice good aul boy thing more-or-less seems to prove that point.

Hopefully, though, Romney will go on to lose in NH, and will quit, along with Fred! After that, the Thompson and Romney guys get on the Rudy bus.

Otherwise, if you recall, I'd been begging for a third party Giuliani/ Lieberman ticket if the GOP goes pure cultural-conservative.

I really hope it doesn't come to that, but I think it may have to happen.

How is HRC more experienced?

Eight years vs. four years in the U.S. Senate.

Not to mention the fact that Obama spent eight years in the Illinois State Senate, as opposed to Hillary's eight years of...

What?

Unsuccessfully squelching bimbo eruptions?

I'm amused by how many New York/Beltway types are a bit stunned by the Huck victory in Iowa. Look, heartland America wants a candidate who looks and acts like a neighbor. It's why W. did so well out here. And it's why this race seems to be coming down to the two candidates who look like heartland America; the pastor and the war hero. Thompson, Mitt and Rudy simply fail to connect out there in the amber waves of grain. It's funny to see all the Corner spudder over this. The red state/blue state divide is going on in the GOP fight and Huck is a red state guy who appeals to the red state voters. Quick, who do you think is the most likely candidate in the GOP field to be at Walmart on Saturday and in the pew on Sunday? The actor? The thrice married guy from Brooklyn? The wealthy Mormon? Or Huck. I'm not a fan of the Huckster by any means but he is able to touch the base of the party in ways the rest of the field simply can't. Is McCain the only hope to beat Huck?

I am not at all surprised by the Huck win. Now if he wins NH, then maybe I'll be surprised. I predict he doesn't win NH.

Is McCain the only hope to beat Huck?

And bite your tongue.

I don't see how you can list your primary concern as illegal aliens/immigration/borders, yet still vote for Huckabee.

I don't know if this is directed at me or in general. I would vote for Huck in the general if he's our guy because, comparatively, he'll be better than any (D).

It was directed at the people who chose Huckabee tonight for some inexplicable reason.

And now I have to listen to My Pretty Pony's triumphal, third place finish speech.

Grrr...

The folks at ALIPAC are ready to reach for the razor blades.

I don't think Huck will win NH but I think McCain just might. The rest of the field seems to have stalled badly.

Her Shrillness actually gave a shout out to Dennis Kucinich.

The Romulans must be ecstatic.

Not Chris Dodd!?

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

I'm curious to see how the Free State Project angle plays out for Paul in NH.

I don't see how it could help him that much.

Less than eight thousand people have signed up for that experiment, and of those only a handful have actually relocated.

I suppose the libertarian inclinations of Republicans in N.H. will help Paul a bit, but I don't see him pulling off any stunning upset.

Wow, the Obama audience just busted out into "U-S-A! U-S-A!" When have you ever heard that from a Democrat crowd?

I figure with a strong tailwind, he might get to third.

Maybe.

I don't see Romney cratering to that extent, and I doubt Thompson and McCain will take a back seat to someone who's polling in the single digits.

Plus, almost all of the independents who would have voted for Paul are going to be voting for Obama.

Nah, more like fourth.

Huckabee has not done nearly as well in NH to this point as he has in Iowa, SC, MI, etc., so the big question for his big showing tonight is, how much of a bump does Huckabee get in NH on Tuesday, and is it enough for him to come in 3rd there?

And just as importantly, is that really just the same as asking what percentage of NH GOP primary voters are baptists/evangelicals?

I think it unlikely that he will get enough momentum to surge past McCain in NH, and with Mass on the border, Romney's supporters will be there in bulk.

God, I hope Romney has cratered to that extent. The basic ingredients of his and Huck's slime seem to be the same, just one is caviar- and one is pork rind-flavored.

My guess is that Iowa insures either Rudy or Fred will be the Republican nominee, and I can definitely live with that. Hell, I could live with McCain.

But not Romney. And definitely not Huck. (I think I'd vote for the UFO guy before Huck....)

It's official, Dodd's out. This email just went out:

I count the past year of campaigning for the presidency as one of the most
rewarding in a career of public service.

Unfortunately, I am withdrawing from that campaign tonight.

But there is no reason to hang our heads this evening -- only the
opportunity to look towards a continuation of the work we started last
January: ending the Iraq War, restoring the Constitution, and putting a
Democrat in the White House.

I know a lot of you came to this email list through a shared desire to
return our nation to one that respects the rule of law, and I want to make
one thing clear to all of you:

The fight to restore the Constitution and stop retroactive immunity does not
end with my Presidential campaign. FISA will come back in a few weeks and
my pledge to filibuster ANY bill that includes retroactive immunity remains
operative.

You've been an invaluable ally in the battle, and I'll need you to stick by
my side despite tonight's caucus results.

So, one more time, thank you for all of your efforts throughout the course
of this entire Presidential campaign.

We made a real difference in shaping the debate, and we'll continue to do so
in the coming days, weeks and years.

I'll never forget you, and what we've fought for, together, over the past
year.

Chris Dodd

...ending the Iraq War...

How is that working for him?

I count the past year of campaigning for the presidency as one of the most
rewarding in a career of public service.

Which is essentially an admission of how worthless his career has been, but we already knew that.

Also, aside from his remarkable moment of lucidity in pinning down Hillary-and the rest of the Dem. Party-for her asinine support of driver's licenses for illegals, how did he exert any impact upon this race, or "shape" it in any way?

Of course Dodd is out. I got almost as many votes as he did.

Okay how do I steal Gerard over to clareified. how?

I tried posting to your blog a few times in the past week, e.g. the "friends" entry, and all I got was a big-ass series of error codes.

Why does your blog have to be so ghey?