Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD:
*Surprised at the victory margins of both Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee.
*Encouraged by the record turnout in both the Democrat and Republican caucuses.
*Shocked that the fourth place finisher in the Democratic race (Bill Richardson) received only about 2 percent of the vote.
*Proud of Clinton School student James Mitchell whose Clinton School blog entries competed with the best reports in the country and who also correctly predicted the results.
*Excited to see more young people engaged in the electoral process.
*Waiting to see what kind of bump Obama and Huckabee receive in the New Hampshire and national polls.
*Watching with interest the strategic reactions of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Mitt Romney–all of whom were hoping to win Iowa.
*Acknowledging that February 5 (Super Tuesday or as some call it, Tsunami Tuesday), where over 20 states including Arkansas vote, takes on added importance.
*Change trumped experience (Democrat).
*Populism trumped professionalism (Republican).
Thanks to many people including Time’s Michael Duffy; Associated Press’s Ron Fournier; Slate’s Jacob Weisberg; consultant and commentator Paul Begala; Huckabee Press Secretary Alice Stewart; former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater; author and professor Chris Hull; Clinton School students James Mitchell (in Iowa) and Tim Giattina (in New Hampshire); Arkansas Traveler (Arkansans for Hillary) coordinator Sheila Bronfman; Director of the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics and former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach; former Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers; South Carolina Republican operative Hogan Gidley and Hillary Clinton election night event coordinator Tyler Denton for calling in to the Clinton School Election Night watch party. Over 300 people attended our event.
Responses