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Popularity: unranked [?]

So the caucuses were good for some and not so good for others. On the side of the donkey we have two senators (dodd and biden) dropping out of the race as Obama edges past Edwards and Clinton for the Iowa delegates. Whats surprising is that Edwards beat out Hillary Clinton for second. The talking heads are calling this a “debate between change and experience” this go round. Personally, I think people are beginning to see Hillary Clinton for what she is, and I hope it continues to New Hampshire.

The GOP pushed Huckabee to the front of the pack and gave him the nod and its my hope that he’s able to parlay this early win in to a string of them. I think an Obama vs. Huckabee general election in November could prove interesting and beneficial for the country. They both offer different views from previous holders of the office and most importantly, they both seem to know whats on the minds of the average person. Of which, there are a lot. It makes me wish I had real estate in NH and some of the early primary states so I could vote now, but I guess I’ll wait my turn. Georgia votes in February.

Caucus Outcome (top 3 in each party)

Democrat

1. Obama - 38%
2. Edwards - 30%
3. Clinton - 29%

GOP

1. Huckabee - 34%
2. Romney - 25%
3. Thompson - 13%
4. McCain - 13%

Popularity: 42% [?]

They don’t send out kids party invitations to people in either party reminding them about the Caucuses on January 3rd, people just know about them. If you’ve turned on a radio, tv or picked up a paper today then chances are fairly good you know about them as well. The opening of the political voting season is brought in with friends and neighbors meeting in schools, churches, halls and other meeting areas for a chance to literally stand up and be counted.

According to CNN the democratic caucuses actually require a person “voting” for one of the candidates to stand in the appropriate corner of the room for the candidate, while the GOP Caucuses take a secret ballot. I prefer the secret ballot as opposed to standing in my guy’s corner, after all, one of the two things you don’t discus with friends is politics.

It will be interesting to see who from the Democrat side walks away triumphant (Obama, Edwards and Clinton are in a tight three way race) and I’m even more excited to see which GOP frontrunner takes it and whether or not Thompson can garner enough votes to stay alive in the race.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Its always interesting when someone crosses party lines to side with the enemy. Independent Senator, Joe Lieberman has come out endorsing John McCain as the only one who can “break through the partisanship that is poisoning our politics today and stopping us from getting anything done in Washington.” An interesting twist for one who has seemingly broken almost all the rules of modern politics.

Lieberman has drawn some fire from the Democratic Leadership, however there’s little they can do if they’d like to keep his votes on their side of the aisle (especially since very few votes separate the two parties in the Senate). I do have to admit, I’m a little surprised myself, that the liberal from New England is supporting the Conservative from Arizona. It could almost be a story line in an episode of the “Odd Couple” but I wouldn’t expect to see the two of them out shopping for platform beds any time soon (wouldn’t that be a pretty headline??).

Elsewhere in the GOP, Huckabee is drawing more fire as he continues to rise in the polls, which brings to mind the question of whether or not bad press is better than no press at all and Ron Paul reportedly raises 6 million in contributions over the weekend in an online ron paul lovefest. I seriously hope that Paul realizes what effect he could have on the race if he runs as a third party and decides not to. It would make sense for the GOP nomoniee to have him on the short list of running mates, though Eric seems to think that would be suicide for the ticket.

Popularity: 16% [?]