Two leading candidates posing as "Washington outsiders" are
declared winners of the Iowa caucuses for both major political
parties, according to preliminary results of the first battle of
the 2008 presidential race held in Des Moines Thursday night.
Senator Barack Obama and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee
have emerged the victors in Iowa Thursday, winning the presidential
caucuses.
Obama, a first-term senator, won with a significant lead over
his main rival and Democratic front-runner, Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Former Senator John Edwards came in second but Clinton came in
at a very close third while votes were being tallied.
Meanwhile, Huckabee, a Baptist preacher-turned politician, won
the Republican caucus. He defeated Massachusetts governor Mitt
Romney who occupied the second.
Former senator Fred Thompson and Senator John McCain were in a
tight race for third place.
Going into Iowa, the first big test of the presidential race,
Huckabee and Romney were neck-and-neck in the polls.
Romney said that despite the loss, he was satisfied with the
gains he made in the polls.
"I've been pleased that I've been able to make up ground and I
intend to keep making up ground, not just here but across the
country," he said.
According to Clinton's aides, the New York state senator called
Obama to congratulate him. But her campaign manager said the fight
for presidency was far from over.
Analysts said Obama's win in an overwhelmingly white state is a
great triumph as he tries to become the first African-American
president of the United States.
Iowa is the first state contest on the road to the party
nominations and the official start of what is expected to be the
longest White House race in history.
While the state is tiny and the voter numbers low, political
analysts say Iowa matters because it can make or break a
candidate's chances in the other 49 states.
"If you can't make the top three on either side in Iowa, you
can't get the party nomination , "Terry Branstas, a former
Republican governor of Iowa told Xinhua.
In fact, since 1976, nearly every serious presidential candidate
has come to Iowa and tried to win in the state.
In total, Iowa has picked the eventual Democratic presidential
nominee in 5 of the past 7 competitive caucuses and the eventual
Republican nominee in 3 of the past 5 competitive caucuses.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2008)
