Clinton Campaign Stung By 3rd Place Finish in Iowa

The above headline says it all. So much for the triumph of money, political dynasties, and "inevitability." I don't regret endorsing John Edwards and will continue to do so--he's not done, yet. But the Obama win was impressive. Last night gave several reasons to cheer:

1. The turnout: As Howard Dean said last night on MSNBC, last night was GREAT for Democrats. Twice the number of people caucused for Democrats as for Republicans last night. I saw an energized, vital Democratic Party that was moving to the future with confidence. I haven't seen that in a presidential election since 1980. There was no sign of Democratic desperation last night. It was the GOP which looked tired, confused, and desperate.
2. The Young People: The Desmoines Register's editorial board may be idiotic for endorsing Clinton (because she's "business friendly"), but their statisticians know their stuff. They predicted Obama by 7 points and were right. And they said that 1st time caucus goers and young people would flood in for Obama, and even though every campaign which has depended on young folks before has collapsed, amazingly this one didn't. That says much for the increasing health of our democracy. Wow. Being a community organizer pays off.
3. Two-thirds of Democrats in Iowa said "no" to DLC/Clintonism with a feminine face. They said that, however much better the Clinton years were than this first decade of the 21st C. (the G.W. Bush era), and they were MUCH better, a return to the '90s was not good enough. The changes and new direction our nation and world needs are bigger than anything promised by Hillary Rodham Clinton--and two thirds of Iowa Democrats (and independents and Republicans who crossed over and caucused with the Dems) agreed.
4. Iowa is 97.3% white. The argument that the U.S. is not ready to vote for anyone of African descent is dead. I wish Shirley Chisholm had lived to see today and I am glad Jesse Jackson has seen it. If whites will vote for Obama in the South, too, then America will have come so much further from the Jim Crow days of my early childhood that I may faint for joy--whatever my disagreements with Obama on particular issues.
5. The "big money always wins" rule was rejected in both parties. It was rejected more decisively in the GOP in which Willard "Mitt" Romney was beaten BADLY by a nearly-broke campaign by a Baptist-preacher-turned Arkansas governor who, 3 months ago, almost no one took seriously--and many hadn't even known was running. Since Obama spent a lot of money (not as much as H.R. Clinton, but far more than John Edwards), the rejection of money was not quite as clear among Democrats as an Edwards victory would have shown--but Clinton's 3rd place finish still was a big money rebuke. And Obama hardly won by money alone. If this continues, our democracy will gain by returning the franchise to ordinary people. We might yet succeed in getting public financing and opening up public office to those who are neither wealthy nor sold out to wealthy special interests. We are not there, yet. But last night was a victory over cynicism.
6. Biden's withdrawal means that he now has plenty of time to focus on his reelection and the GOP can count out any chance of picking up a Senate seat in Delaware.
7. Dodd's withdrawal means that he can concentrate on stopping the McConnell-led GOP in the Senate and the weak-kneed Harry Reid Dems from collaborating in shredding the Constitution. I hope Dodd challenges Reid for Senate Majority Leader. Or, maybe a President Obama (or Edwards, I'm not done hoping and working here, yet!) will appoint him as Ambassador to the UN.

Reasons for Concern:

There are many reasons to like Mike Huckabee (R-AR) more than most of the knuckledraggers that the GOP is running for Pres. this year: On many domestic issues, especially poverty and taxation, he sounds very different than the mean-spirited troglodytes who love the super wealthy. But Huckabee stil has many negatives for progressives:

1. His campaign in Iowa basically said, "Vote for me because I am a conservative, evangelical Christian--and we should be running the place." Huckabee has ties to some very theocratic folks and he is no champion of church-state separation--and regularly demonizes Muslims, atheists, etc. All those of us committed to a pluralistic commonwealth where church-state separation and religious liberty and liberty of conscience are cherished need to work to defeat a Huckabee presidency.
2. I do NOT agree that Huckabee's victory in Iowa shows that "the Religious Right is as strong as ever." Most of the RR leaders endorsed other GOP candidates. Whether they now coalesce around Huckabee remains to be seen: they don't like him on several issues.
3. Huckabee is pro death penalty (damning Romney, who is also pro-dp, for not executing anyone while governor of Mass.--although Huckabee knows Mass. has no dp!), pro-torture, pro-Gitmo gulag, pro-continuing the Iraq occupation, etc.
4. Huckabee is at least as ignorant of world affairs and as incurious about them as G.W. Bush was in 2000. Do we really want a repeat?
5. Huckabee wants to outlaw ALL abortions, hints of prison for doctors who perform them.
6. Huckabee wants to continue discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Fortunately, Huckabee will not do well in NH where the battle will be between McCain and Romney.

There are strong reasons for progressives to rally around whomever the Democratic nominee is--although I am encouraged that last night showed that we might nominate a more progressive standard bearer than Hillary Rodham Clinton. On balance, though the Iowa results were not exactly what an Edwards supporter would wish, last night was a good way to begin 2008.

This will be the most important U.S. presidential election in my lifetime--and for the world, not just for the U.S. The congressional and senate races will also be important--as we say to ourselves and to the world: What kind of nation, what kind of society, do we want to become? Iowa gave us its answer. On Tuesday, we find out what the granite state of New Hampshire says. Excitement is in the air.