http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/4/31417/99100/937/430281Time: Edwards a Winner, Campaign Continues on Strong to NH
by Progressive America
Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 01:33:43 AM PST
In Iowa, voters chose change by an overwhelming majority. Edwards turned out 70,000 caucusgoers, 30,000 more than the campaign expected. The pundits predicted a high turnout would put Edwards in 3rd. They told us this for weeks, so it must have been true. But they were proven wrong again. With his progressive call for change and standing up for everyone in this country against the powerful well-financed interests in Washington, Edwards rallied thousands of first-time and repeat caucusgoers to come out and caucus for him. He finished second for the young vote, above expectations, and second for the independent vote, which will also be important in New Hampshire.
Time has an interesting article on this perspective, that
Edwards is also a winner and the real battle will now be between Obama and Edwards. A Second-Place "Victory" for Edwards?
Friday, Jan. 04, 2008 By JAY NEWTON-SMALL/DES MOINES
John Edwards went into the Iowa caucuses last night a fighter and he emerges from them as scrappy as ever. In other words, don't assume, because he lost to Barack Obama, that Edwards is down for the count. After all, as his campaign advisers are quick to point out, by finishing second Edwards's David can claim victory over at least one Goliath. "The person hurt in all this is Hillary Clinton," Joe Trippi, an Edwards senior advisor, told TIME minutes after his candidate claimed the silver medal in Des Moines. "The former president of the United States flew all around this state and so did she. They outspent us three-to-one at least. And we beat her."
...
His aides, though, argue that his victory over Clinton, who has also raised over $100 million, shows his message is resonating despite his comparatively thin wallet. In Iowa he was limited to spending $1.5 million, though he benefited from spending by supportive unions and privately funded outside groups that ran television commercials on his behalf. "I have to be honest, I didn't think with a turn out of more than 200,000 that we'd be where we are in this thing," Trippi said. "We only had 42,000 hard count , so to go from 42,000 to 65,000 or 70,000 — the message had to have been so strong that people got up out of their homes and went to a caucus without the campaign getting them there. Now the campaign that everyone thought was going to happen to or knew that was going to happen to was the Obama campaign, but it turns out that there were two of those campaigns." To be sure, Trippi was spinning the best-possible story for his candidate. But it is certainly true that a large turnout was expected, by many observers, to do more damage to Edwards' chances than to Clinton's.
Even as Edwards was speaking last night, member states of the Service Employees International Union that have endorsed Edwards were sending out a press release claiming victory out of second place and laying out their strategy to work for him in the upcoming contests. And you can be sure the same outside groups that helped Edwards in Iowa will appear in New Hampshire. Still, the tidal wave that Edwards' spoke of, at least for tonight, is not his own. It will take another tidal wave for Edwards to wrest the mantle of change — and a victory — from Obama.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1700133,00.html
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