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I am sooo..tired of hearing about Iowa caucuses. Most of those on your show today pointed out that caucusers are a small part of Iowa's electorate; that Iowa is a small part of the US electorate; and that Iowa is very atypical in its demographics. Then, they all opined on what the outcomes MEAN ! This is a contradiction in terms for this quadrenial "of the media, by the media, and for the media" event.

TWEEDLEDEE

Barack Obama's on his way

To making the White House scene,

A juggernaut that can't be stopped,

Like President Howard Dean.

I felt both excited and disheartened by the caucus results. Excited that we live in a country where Barack Obama could win 38% of the vote; disheartened because I believe that American prejudice against women in power is still greater than American prejudice against men of color in power. Just consider this: black men got the vote in this country in 1870. Women didn't get the vote until 1920. I think Barack is the more 'inspiring' candidate, but Hillary is the more capable and qualified candidate. You'll never convince me that Hillary's international experience and her impressive congressional record are not relevant. Barack is a man of passionate convictions; but we just have suffered through two terms of a president with passionate, misguided convictions: Bush. I think passion is a dangerous litmus test when you're looking for an able leader. I think this country needs a realistic president who has the background and the discipline to do the day-to-day work of governance--shrewdly and without grandstanding or self-promotion, with a thorough grounding in existing dynamics. I believe misogyny has hampered Hillary's campaign terribly--whatever reasons people give. From Clinton haters, from conservatives, from Chris Matthews (! he's been relentless!) to other women, who strangely resent her 'presumption'. It is this calcified vindictive attitude toward a woman of strength that disheartens me, on the morning after a caucus that brought such a happy result to a newcomer.

Why has society become so reluctant to take a chance on an inspiring figure in the political realm these days? I keep hearing experience, experience, experience and I feel as though this country is more focused on strict credentials and resumes rather than work ethic, inspiration and a all the former (minus years and years of experience). What happened to John F. Kennedy like supporters? Take a chance and remember how you felt that day which our 35 president was gone. Where is that type of passion in society today? I say Barack Obama reinvigorates society and politics.

Jawbone @ 47 - damn, that's a good point, but wouldn't you say that the problem with Shrub's adviser choices was due to nepotism and dishonesty?

I think the high voter turnout among young people in Iowa won't be repeated in the general election, so I can't take seriously any candidate's strength among young voters in the caucus.

BTW, CTers, don't forget that Obama's mentor in the U.S. senate is LIEberman.

Ron @ 39--That's what was said to allay people's concerns about Bush The Younger's inexperience...and that worked out so well.

Most voters could care less for Iowa's caucus results. As a voter, we would like to know the candidates' credentials, where they stand on the issues, and more importantly, what their solutions would be.

The pre-election polls which are publicized incessantly by the broadcast media enable candidates with name recognition to widen the gap among candidates. The leading candidates probably would not be the leading candidates based on their records and likelihood for success in office. Please continue to enlighten us more on what matters, and less on the latest scores.

I read a comment about the Democratic caucuses last night from someone there--said the Obama supporters didn't even stay around to choose delegates to the first level of the party's selection process.

Obama got the numbers last night, but in some cases he won't have the representatives who have to go on to actually vote (believe it's county level, then state, but I'm assuming)--because they didn't stay around to be chosen or signed up!

The purchasing power of the dollar continues to decline with each passing day. (The value of a home that was purchased 20 years ago hasn’t increased in value. That is a LIE! The truth of the matter is that due to the decline of the value of the dollar (The dollar today is actually worth 4 cents) it now takes 5 times the amount of money to repurchase that same home. The same goes for a gallon of milk, etc.)

There is only ONE Presidential candidate that has vowed to eliminate the Private Federal Reserve and the illegal Internal Revenue Service. (A private company based in Puerto Rico)

That candidate is none other then Ron Paul. (http://www.RonPaul2008.com)

In my opinion, this is the most important election since the founding of our country. THIS ELECTION WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY.

The Private Federal Reserve is the greatest threat to our republic. This ILLEGAL entity prints DOLLARS and LOANS it at INTEREST to the Government generating our NATIONAL DEBT along with MASSIVE INFLATION. When Congress has the ability to regulate and print DEBT FREE MONEY with ZERO INFLATION.

The average American works THREE MONTHS out of the year just to pay its federal and Federal Income Tax obligations. As former President Ronald Regan pointed out NOT ONE PENNY of the FEDERAL INCOME TAX goes toward any governmental or civilian services.

Instead 100% PERCENT of the money goes into the hands of the Bankers that own, run and operate the Private Federal Reserve. Today more and more families are living paycheck to paycheck because the dollar buys less and less. This is due to the Private Federal Reserve having the ability to print money out of THIN AIR causing INFLATION. More and more families now need both parents to work. This in turn has destroyed the American Family unit. (Nick Rockefeller told the late Aaron Russo that such was an aim of the Rockefeller Family: Search for the interview on YouTube)

And just to clarify, while I back Edwards--he had me at his healthcare announcement, or maybe when he announced his candidacy in New Orleans--I'm toally committed to a Democratic president. If the person nominated is not completely to my liking, I will work like hell to bring the party back to its ideals and away from the ocrporate influcences.

I do fear what the MCM (Mainstream Corporate Media) will do to any Dem. The track record is to be very hard and harsh on any Dem, to find fault with the slightest, most trivial thing the MCMers view as a fault, to let the Republican slide. The old IOKIYAR also has its IDIYAR (It's Different If You Are Republican) aspect. Concerning Hillary, it was the most egregious of mistakes, faults, idiocy almost when she said that Spitzer's plan for a special driver's license for the undocumented was an idea to be considered. The MCM has never let that drop. Yet, Obama said almost exactly the same thing mere days later--and the MCM never mentioned it, at least the MCMers with the huge megaphones.

So, right now, the MCM is ripping Hillary and ignoring Edwards (even this morning on Brian's show, how much was said about John Edwards?). If she's out of the race, will the MCM turn on Obama? Halperin on Charlie Rose last night said the media have not yet really scrutinized Obama--so will that begin?

We must have a Democratic president--the functioning of our democratic representative republic requires it.

Ron paul??

pssssst! I saw that idiot on Meet The Press...he sounded like the ignorant old cook at the local bar who complains about the government and has no knowledge about the world outside America. He's got about 2 grand points that make sense but when you get into the details of what he believes, he sounds like a moron who doesn't know anything about any of the subjects he talks about

Why is experience so talked about? Whoever is president is not going to lead in a bottle. They will have all the smartest people (if they want them) to adivse.

To My Fellow Americans, Patriots and Friends:

My name is Dr. John Wolcott and I am a professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. (For those who care) I am writing this letter to warn my fellow Americans of the CATAROSPHIC EVENTS shaping our country and our way of life.

What is occurring in our Country has nothing to with Democrats or Republicans. What most Americans do not know is that for the last 70 years we have had a ONE political party with TWO FACTIONS. Our government is no longer a government by and for the people. It is a government whose politicians, political branches are controlled by the:

1. The Private Federal Reserve (A Private Company)
2. Banking Cartels
3. And Corporate Lobbyist

Barry/22 -- I think that's what Obama meant by "hope" and "faith." If some of his opponents declare the US to be involved in wars that will last generations, and Obama has NOT said that, then I have a bit of hope. Would a President Obama have a long learning curve? Yes. I'd rather see a president in learning mode for a while -- it would be most refreshing. Even if he gets it wrong on the side of negotiation over ignorant arrogance.

I started this defense of Obama as a devil's advocate position but I'm beginning to convince myself!

Whats up with bill and hil --no hugs,no kisses?????
I was swept away by Obama--he is the one now--HOPE

It is ashame people are not supporting Ron Paul. The ONLY candidate who supports restoring the constitution and bill of rights. The ONLY candidate who will get rid of THE PRIVATE FEDERAL RESERVE and the illegal income tax. What a same. Huckabee, romney, gulianni, clinton, edwards are all puppets of the Rockefeller family.

levineii

None of the D candidates go crazy when they hear trigger words. If you're comparing Obama to Rs, he's certainly superior to them. But that's not saying much.

I think Oprah just might win this campaign for Obama....but I'm not giving up hope for the dream team....a Hilary/Obama ticket.

While I wasn't surprised at the knowing chuckle of your pundit when the caller referred to Obama as bi-racial (after all, historically in America anyone with one drop of African American blood has been deemed black), I was surprised you didn't challenge him more on his reaction. Maybe the big change is that with Obama America is finally moving beyond the the black white dichotomy. Maybe for most Americans blackness is less of a "taint" now than it used to be, and is just one more in the mix of ethnic mixes we so proudly identify ourselves as. In the future people will be known as African/Jewish-Americans, or African/Italian-Americans, in much the same way I identify my ethnic roots as Polish/German-American, and often feel a proud connectedness to anyone who achieves in any of those three groups (Poles, Germans, Americans).

It REALLY bothers me that the results from such a teensy tiny percentage of the population can cause such EXCELLENT candidates -- Biden and Dodd, specifically -- to drop out of the race. I will never ever understand this. It sure gives a LOT of power to a very few people.

Brian & all, your coverage last night was terrific. Thank you! Can I just pick a minor bone, though? The way you read out the phone number was very strange.... I finally figured out why you were doing it that way, but it was weirdly disconcerting to not hear the slight pause one expects after the three digits of the exchange (following the "800"). Please consider saying it the "normal way" next time. THANK YOU!

ecahn -- glad you found my comment revealing, and I do believe that a candidate who has lived in a different country for a while is inherently superior in terms of foreign policy insights. Obama is young but his mind is open, if for no other reason than his expat experience. He is not prone to going crazy when he hears trigger words that shut lesser men's minds.

R/corpo "open view of trade" means using cheap labor elsewhere as slaves.

Thompson is the most disappointed candidate this morning. He didn't do poorly enough to justify dropping out.

I've been asking what direction, what change Obama wants for the country. I've been very concerned, after the huge fight Democrats had to wage to preserve Social Security (which is not in trouble, but Medicare if very much), that Obama chose that as an issue to take a stand on--that SocSec was in trouble and needed major changes.

What, really, is his new direction--or directions? What changes?

Anyone know?

One more post on this topic and I'll stop for today: I think people who associate Clinton with "scandal" are giving the Clinton's somewhat of a bum rap. Bill Clinton faced a very hostile Republican Congress for the last 6 years of his presidency. It was the Republicans were bent on finding scandal even when it wasn't there. Remember that besides Clinton's sexual escapades and his terrible pardoning of that Marc Rich guy, all that money spent on Ken Starr's investigations produced nothing. It's unfair to paint Clinton's presidency as a time of scandal because most the "scandals" were just a bunch of Republican-raised hype.

I want to hear Huckabee directly address the question of the Constitutional separation of church and state. The Southern Baptist Church, in the last 40 years or so, has shifted from a strong position in favor of this principle to a strong position in favor of getting involved in politics and transforming religious beliefs into law. I have not heard him address this issue head-on.

Define what bellwether means.

Iowa are N. Hampshire are not diverse
states.

New York and California are more diverse
states but are they bellwether states?

Or are the bellwether states: Missouri,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida--swings states
with size that influence general elections.

to pigeonhole obama as black is not just racist but ridiculous. even jesse jackson has said that obama does not act black. it's the content of character, not the color of skin, that determines what a man is.

Youth turned out the vote last night in Iowa, but will the novelty last until the general election - enough to get them to the polls to vote for Obama? Clinton is still ahead 20+ points nationally.
I think Obama's message about the blending of American society sounded utopian/dated.

I agree with eCAHNomics's comment at 10:09AM.

Obama's naive. Does he really think the Republicans are going to roll over and accept universal health care and troop drawdown in Iraq (among other things)? No! He can give a rousing speech about a "United" States, but I'm still waiting for substance on how he 1)is going to get Republicans to agree with him, or 2)is going to give in to Republican demands.

Open disclosure: I'm torn between Clinton and Edwards. Edwards is right on when he points out that Republicans are not going to simply start agreeing with the Democrats (which is the only way "partisanship" will disappear--but then we'd be a one-party state). Clinton's strength is that she knows that Democrats must fight back against every single Republican attack if they ever expect to win.

Please define bellwether.

It's definitely not Iowa or N. Hampshire.

New York and California are more diverse, but
are those states bellwethers?

Or are the bellwethers states: Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida-- swings states
with size that influence general elections.

levineii

In case you hadn't noticed, Obama is Christian, not Muslim.

And I think your use of the phrase "our Muslim foes" is very revealing, indicating you think Muslims are enemies of the U.S.

The person who can do the best job with the U.S. dismal image in the Muslim world is the one with the best foreign policy. Obama's childhood in Indonesia may give him a leg up in understanding that (though I see no evidence in that regard), but it is hardly dispositive.

PLEASE read Obama's first book - Dreams from my Father -- which he wrote when he was 33 and pre-politics. It gives insight into a remarkable young man with an amazing range of personal and societal experiences. The notion that he might be our president is so exciting that I plan to work for him -- and I'm not in the "young" cohort.

Thank you to your caller that pointed out that Obama is a "mixed race" person. As the mother of two mixed race children I am soooo sick of this tendency of Americans to pigeon-hole people under one race or another. Only here there is such a sense of denial about interracial sex. I guess one more legacy from last century's segregated America.

People should remember that black men have historically gotten many firsts prior to white women, the right to vote, Supreme Court justice, U.S. Senator. Just something to think about in this contest.

What about possible assassination?
How much security is being given to Obama.
Pakistan has shown, I mean has the question even been asked about how is he being kept safe.
Unfortunately there is an element in the US that is not color blind.
PS I really want Obama to win by the way.
No more Bush or Clinton.
period

I think Obama has relatively little to run on except that he makes his supporters feel good about themselves. That's not a bad thing but it's not enough to qualify someone for president. I also agree with several callers I heard on C-Span this morning---that Republicans would much rather run against Obama than Clinton, and that may be behind the surge of 'independents' that voted him in Iowa last night.

Obama is the best hope as a negotiator with Muslim foes who may have the power to reduce America's war fears and commitments around the world.

That is because he may be perceived as a "change agent" because he has had first hand exposure to the Muslim world.

Of course, this exact point has been used by some of Obama's foes as a liability.

Barack Obama is black?! What?!

how much does anyone think that Oprah had to do with switching some of the womens' vote from Hillary to Obama?

Oh geez, of course Obama's biracial. In the United States, that's called "black." Almost all of us are a mix of races, but that does not matter when labels are applied.

BTW, the only way a black can win is to turn his back on black issues, just the way the only way a woman can win is to turn her back on women's issues. Which is why you haven't heard anything about those from either candidate.

i have just turned off my radio, again. i will not listed to the great detail that your program has decided to place on national politics.

i am not interested in political analysis EVERY monday. i am interested in knowing that obama and huckabee won the primaries, but not the detail that you go into.

this is a loss for me, for WNYC is the only station that i listen to , and i have been a member for 25+ years. but i will not listen to your show today, and i have had to turn it off many times in the past months.

a loss for me not to have the radio on this morning. but silence is better than what you are doing now, in my opinion.

We are screwed people....I Hope the media machine doesn't think that these 2 guys are qualified to be president.

The trouble with Obama's meme is that we are NOT one nation. You can't just "make nice" to Rs who want war with every country in the world & take away all rights domestically. You have to fight for peace and for your rights.

Obama's vitory speech was all about "hope" which is even less substantive than "compassionate conservatism." The second time I listened to it, I found him even more of an empty suit than the first time.

Since we know that anyone could vote in the
caucses as long as you lived in the district,
isn't possible that any number of Rebuplicans
showed up at demecratic caucses and registered
as independents (which is legal) and then voted
for Obama.This seems plausble to me seeing the
number of repiblicans wou hate Mrs Clinton, and
knowing their capacity for dirty tricks.
Regards,
Ralph Rofheart

Some things that caught my eye from CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.
-Did NBC make all the calls or just the Obama call? I thought CNN's commercial break that came immediately after NBC's Obama call reflected well on them because it made me think they were checking the story first.
-Did Hillary Clinton ever acknowledge taking third place in her speech? I did notice that she "congratulate[s]" Obama and Edwards, yet "thank[s]" Richardson, Biden, Dodd and Kucinich, which sounded to me like she was thanking the lower tier candidates for coming to the party while ushering them out the door.
-The Anderson Cooper pie chart fiasco: rolling in the aisles funny.
-Mike Huckabee's "I Like Mike" sign caught my interest because making that allusion to Eisenhower sends an entirely different message than the allusions to Reagan in his speech ("new day in American politics"). Those are such different conservative mantles to dawn that it makes my head spin.