IA caucus - Kerry 38% (winner), Edwards 32%, Dean 18% (97% reporting) (Gephardt drops out)

self

[calvin sun]

FYI it's being carried live on Cspan. They said coverage starts at 7 pm ET, with the actual caucus at 7:30 pm ET.

[StarFan]

Don't forget also that Heinz 57 varieties of mood swings has similiar anger issues to the mad doctor. And just wait until they hear his gutter-mouth, pushy wife speak. Hopefully it will resurrect the two for one presidency.

[billhilly]

" I don't know about a Sitting President ..but JFK was the last Senator elected"

Are you forgetting about Al Gore? {;^D

[Theodore R.]

but his arguments don't hold up under the sort of close examination we can expect during a campaign for the White House

What makes you think Dan, Peter, and Tom will subject Kerry (if he is the nominee) to "close examination"?

[BCrago66]

History in the making - Gephardt soon makng concession speech. Looks like Edwards coming up around the same time.

[oceanview]

Pat Cadell and Pat Buchanan in a good segment on MSNBC now.

[Pukin Dog]

It's too late. Dean's people are jumping ship as though Dean was radioactive. Young folks hate to lose. They got slapped silly tonight. They are signing up with Wes Clark, because when Anger doesnt work, all that is left is Crazy.

Next week, the media starts the destruction of Kerry, then Edwards. Clark wins NH, then Lieberman drops out. Dean is history after NC.

[Torie]

You must have had a grand time! What was the reaction of the sans culottes? It is so fun to be ahead of the curve in any event, looking back.

[deport]

Some of the numbers from the causus goers indicated something like 75% were against the war.... but 27% voted for Kerry and only 25% for Dean....... I think Fox was saying this.

[Dan from Michigan]

At this juncture, Kerry is clearly Bush's strongest opponent. I just don't yet believe in Edwards as having the necessary elements.

You think so. I think he's the easiest based on geography, personality, being a insider Washington guy, and temperment(not like Dean's, but has one). As for his war record, he also turned his back on the country while our guys were still there.

Clark's tough since he's unpredictable. Gep's gone, but he would have been tough. Dean still can be scary, although he may have beaten himself for being a jackass. Edwards I think would have been very tough....in 2008 or 2012.

[BCrago66]

Edwards' wife is up.

[Theodore R.]

What's your idea on Edwards finishing second?

Remember that conversation that supposedly occurred between John and Abigail Adams in which she told him to "remember the ladies, John."

Well, maybe if John Edwards did not "remember the ladies," the ladies remembered him. Plus they probably liked his "change" rhetoric, which means nothing more than liberalism as usual.

[Democratshavenobrains]

Anyone think Clark should have campaigned in Iowa to benefit from the Dean implosion?

[Spunky]

"I've read that Kerry was quite a swinger/womanizer at one time."

I was listening to talk radio Michael Medved. He said he went to college with Kerry. He said he is the most unlikeable person there is. He said he was such a dead beat nobody could stand him.

[Sofa King]

Well, it might help Clark a little to know where to position himself in NH judging from the results in Iowa. Clark's a Clintonite, so switching his political position to fit what he needs is acceptable strategy for him. When is NH?

[Kevin Curry]

This man is so full of hot air, contradictions and flimsy arguments I predict Bush will kick his sorry butt in debates.

Agree. Kerry doesn't come across as authentic, genuine. Neither did Clinton, but Clinton had a certain twisted, vile "charm" (for lack of a better word). Clinton was interesting and upstaged the other candidates in the same way that say, black hat Bruce Dern was interesting and frequently upstaged the white hat in the movies in which he appeared.

Kerry comes across as patrician, ambitious, self-important, and hollow.

Dubya's great strength is that he comes across as likeable and genuine.

[Torie]

Geography matters less and less. We really are becoming one nation in that sense.

[MeekOneGOP]

hahahahaaaaaa ! ...

[Capt. Tom]

Does anyone know if there is only one person to boat?

Try this-

DES MOINES, Jan. 17 — It is March 13, 1969, and Lt. John Kerry, 25, a Silver Star winner and holder of two Purple Hearts, is piloting his Navy boat up the treacherous Bay Hap River in Vietnam, a day after escaping a Vietcong ambush.

Suddenly, a mine blast rocks the boat and enemy fire explodes from both banks. Lieutenant Kerry is thrown into the bulkhead, bashing his head and arm. And then, from the fantail, comes a cry, "Man overboard!" A Special Forces officer — a tall, sharp-featured, redheaded lieutenant Mr. Kerry would remember only as Rassmann — is 200 yards aft, surfacing and diving for his life as snipers rake the river.

In the chaos, Mr. Kerry turns the boat on a dime, races forward, pulls the soldier into the bow and steers to safety. As a result, he wins the Bronze Star with a combat "V" for valor and his third Purple Heart: a ticket home from Vietnam for good. He never sees Rassmann again.

Until Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004, a day after Jim Rassmann, 56, a retired Los Angeles sheriff's deputy and orchid lover, awoke in Florence, Ore., and decided to contact Senator John Kerry's campaign.

So Mr. Rassmann flew to Iowa. "I'm a news junkie," he said at a news conference here. "I've followed John's career since '84. I wrote him a letter then and invited him to dinner if he ever came to L.A. Never heard back." "I'm a Volvo Republican, a practical idealist," Mr. Rassmann continued. "He stands for things I'd like to stand for. And he's an honest man. With a good healthy ego, but not an ego that knows no bounds." En route from Davenport, Mr. Kerry was staggered to learn by phone of Mr. Rassmann's emergence. "I'm amazed," he said in a raspy, halting voice. "It's stunning. It's amazing to have a guy from 35 years ago just appear." He said, "You know, I never thought I'd ever see the guy again." About 4:30 p.m., he did: Mr. Rassmann, not so tall, not so sharp-featured now, his not-so-red hair thinning on top, embraced Mr. Kerry. His broad, beaming face quickly melted into sobs. Mr. Kerry squeezed it in both hands.

Collecting himself, Mr. Rassmann spoke up. "John didn't have to, but he came to the front under fire," he said. "The bow, pardon me, sir. I always had a problem with Navy terminology. And pulled me over. Had he not, there's no question in my mind that I probably would've fallen back into the river. He could've been shot and killed at any time, and so could I. So I figure I probably owe this man my life."

Mr. Kerry listened, then told a mob of television cameras and political reporters, "This is a brave, unbelievably patriotic American."

To which Mr. Rassmann added an endorsement of his own: "He's going to get my vote."

[maica]

Good point about Harkin. I am sure that Iowans must be might sick of the Dean/Harkin ad that said "We are going to fight to take back our country". I found that one of the most offensive statements a politician could make, when I heard Harkin say it on the day he endorsed Dean.

When I learned that they had put it in an ad, I thought that many other Americans would find it offensive as well. They have more animus against Republicans than they do terrorists.

[BCrago66]

Edwards is up - I hope he loses just so he doesn't keep inflicting John Couger Melencamp upon innocent people.