Camelot



Whether you care for the candidates or not, you would have to admit that the other night in Iowa, the world changed.

Clearly, the reasons Iowans turned out in record numbers—some say more than a 75% increase over just four years ago!—was to let us know that they were committed to change and they proved the point.

There was no question among pundits and critics alike that Obama had not only found his voice, he found his message and it was HOPE!....

In the eyes of the young and others who flooded the Caucus centers, he was not only a messenger of change but an icon representing change in all of its possible permutations….

He was the anti-status quo!

Hillary’s message thus suffered. Her arguments all along that she was not only the architect for change but also had the experience to make it happen seem to fall on mostly deaf ears!

While she had seen herself as the flag bearer for women and independents alike, the truth was that women under 35 seemed to flock to Obama and independents increased his advantage by six percentage points; otherwise, it might have been a much closer contest.

Although Caucus-goers were proportionately heavier among the young, and the rural precincts seemed to be allocated more weight than the suburban areas in the arcane numerology of the Caucus, the voice of the Iowans could not be denied.

They were for change; but they recognized Obama as the vehicle for that change.

Statistically, Obama seemed to score well across the board. This was not a narrow support group….

And they came out in record numbers making their intentions clear!

A similar surprise was recorded in the Republican camps.

Here, an unknown with little money and a folksy home-town style won and won big against the entrenched resources of a mogul with corporate ties.

Outspent by about 17 to 1, Huckabee with virtually no organization beat the former governor of Massachusetts who had been in Iowa longer, spent more and organized more.

The results seemed to give the lie to the power of money.

When push came to shove, the power did after all reside in the people.

Of course, a lot of Huckabee’s base resided among the Evangelicals…..

And he is a conservative in many ways; but he is also more of a populist than many would like to admit and he drives the moneyed conservatives to rage.

Clearly, most pundits had misjudged the astuteness of the Iowa voter or their motivations.


This was not only a new ball game, it signaled the end of one era and the beginning of another. For the first time since the early nineties, hope was in the air.

And if you stretched your mind a bit, you could even see Obama and Huckabee getting along.

What had happened to the world?

What was truly surprising was that most Republicans were fed up, too; fed up with the unkept promises and the neglect; fed up with Irag and a sagging economy where good people found themselves fighting to hold onto their homes. Where good people could not afford to heat their homes or commute to work.

The people, clearly—and on both sides—demanded change and I think that is good not only for us but for the future of America.

In the end, Huckabee’s support may collapse and his money dry up as the conservatives swing to McCain but at least for one night it was feeling a lot like Camelot.

Les Aaron
The Committee for Positive Change