Post Caucus Wrap Up

Wow, I don't even know where to go from here... Obama won the Iowa Caucus, and Edwards came in second, and Clinton came in 3rd. I didn't think that Iowa would go that way, although it broke down pretty much like the last poll said it should.

From Wiretap's article on the primary:

The Iowa youth turnout rate has almost tripled since 2000. Participation of youth under 30 rose from 3 percent in 2000 to 11 percent in 2008. The turnout rate for those 30 and above was 15 percent. Among 17- to 29-year-old Democrats, 57 percent supported the winner, Barack Obama, and among 17- to 29-year-old Republicans, 40 percent supported the winner, Mike Huckabee, according to CNN's entrance poll.

Wiretap also notes that Obama's Campaign gives the youth vote credit for his win.

YDA's Executive Director Al Acker said in the YDA Press Release:

“The Young Voter Revolution continued in Iowa tonight, with young voters again showing they will turn out when targeted,” said Alexandra Acker, Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America. “Young voters were the margin of victory for Barack Obama tonight and they will by the margin of victory to propel our Democratic nominee to victory in November.

Michael Moore's comments point out that support for the war was rejected.

Over 70% of Iowan Democrats voted for candidates who either never voted for the invasion of Iraq (Obama, Richardson, Kucinich) or who have since admitted their mistake (Edwards, Biden, Dodd). I can't tell you how bad I feel for Senator Clinton tonight. I don't believe she was ever really for this war. But she did -- and continued to do -- what she thought was the politically expedient thing to eventually get elected. And she was wrong. And tonight she must go to sleep wondering what would have happened if she had voted her conscience instead of her calculator.

Future Majority Reporting that the youth vote was over three times what it was over the last few cycles.

Young voters are increasingly moving in the direction of Democrats, and tonight, the Obama campaign - thanks to a savvy youth operation that reached out on Facebook and MySpace, at high schools and on college campuses - was able to capitalize on that to attain victory. His win confirms what many have been saying for years now: young people will vote if you pay attention to the, speak to their issues, and reach out. New technologies can certainly help make that initial connection, yet it's still good old fashioned face to face politicking - peer to peer organizing - that makes the difference. Years ago, when young people began voting Republican during the Reagan Era, Democrats stopped asking young voters to participate. Tonight's victory shows what individual candidates, and the Democratic Party stand to gain by courting today's young voters.

And each campaign has released comments. I can't wait to see how things go in NH.