So now Huckabee will have a "momentum" narrative behind him till at least the NH primaries. Ugh, but then again he's one of the GOP's worst mutants and would be soundly defeated in the general election by any Democrat.

What's more interesting on their side is that the establishment's guy, the man they were supposed to go back to for the general because all the others are unpresentable, John McCain got 4th. I mean, jeez, the dude was a "sure win" just 6 months ago....

Oh well. So goes the first caucus.

Clinton knew that she was losing Iowa anyway from the start. She's ahead in other primaries, but now the "momentum" narrative is against her.

So, like, other states' votes are tainted.

And I know turnout for caucuses in Iowa are historically under 5%.

Broken democracy, anybody?

Huckabee, not George Bush, is the presidential nominee that the evangelical right has dreamed of. He is clearly a theocrat in "down home boy" clothing. He has made it very clear that he considers us, al;l LGBT Americans, to be aberrant, sinful and not worthy of equal treatment under the law.

A Huckabee presidency will be even worse for the nation, not just the Queer Nation, but the entire than George Bush.

I agree that Huck would be the worst president of the bunch in the GOP (now that Tancredo dropped out), I just don't think that he has a chance at winning. He can be all the smooth-talking, guitar-playing he wants to be, he's still a Republican who increased taxes, gave college tuition reduction to children of undocumented workers, knows nothing about IR, and is an idiot. At least GWB has a solid conservative record.

Hill beats him down by taking big business and all its money. CfG and its ilk will back her. I mean, even the GOP leadership hates Huckabee. Check out how Mike Duncan wouldn't even talk about Huck tonight after he won the Iowa caucus.

Obama would beat Huck again with centrist triangulation and by pandering to fundies. Nothing to fear from that corner. Plus Obama's a smoother-talker.

And on that "historically massive" turnout, CNN's clocking it at 7%. Yep, that's democracy.

There's plenty of unexpected opportunities during a campaign though Alex. I'd hate to see Hillary vs Huckabee and a terrorist bomb goes off in, say, a city in Texas. Huckabee goes war hawk while Hillary's campaign stumbles. Then the media starts "reporting" the story as "Huckabee loves victims. Hillary loves terrorists.'

Never underestimate the unexpected. It'll get you every time. :)

I agree with Alex; Huckabee is the weakest general-election candidate in the GOP field, another reason the aristocrat wing of the party is so desperate to stop him. He doesn't have a broad message that could expand his populist base beyond conservative evangelicals, and his social views are so extreme they could well inspire a deep backlash once the bright lights come on. (Not to mention all the other baggage he carries around.)

Huckabee is very useful for two things:

1) He splits the old coalition between economic and social conservatives wide open. The more these two groups begin to resent each other, the better.

2) He shows that the evangelicals can do something beyond blindly follow the GOP establishment's lead. This may not be something that could be immediately capitalized on, but I think it does mean a positive sign for the future.

Obviously there's always a fear that the hapless Dems could lose to a Garfield/Odie ticket, but if they can't beat Huckabee then all hope must be lost...

Hmm remember this is round 1 not the end game people Huck lost my vote the minute he announced and im pretty much one of the few Republicans here. McCain did not compete neither did Rudy it’s a different game in NH Wyoming on Saturday has been lost in the mix the only real player is get this Duncan Hunter. Incase you missed it Biden and Dodd are officially out of the race.

The GOP isnt dead yet the socialist wing will leave in a huff when they are denied the nominaton much like the Dixiecrats left the Democrats. So stay tuned its going to be a wild ride for the GOP and I offer you this again please if any of you want to cross over and help us send Huck packing back to Arkansas please do so!