One of the most often heard complaints about the candidacy of Barack Obama is that it is a media-driven one, that his current level of support and organizational prowess are not commensurate to the amount of coverage he has received in the print and, especially, the broadcast media. But if the early response to his candidacy in the key state of Iowa is any indication, the interest in his campaign -- not necessarily hard support, but the widespread interest -- is quite deep in the early nominating state. David Yepsen, who as a columnist for the Des Moines Register is a sort of dean of the political press corps in Iowa, has the details of the initial response to the junior Senator from the neighboring state of Illinois.
Barack Obama is off to a stellar start in Iowa.The Illinois senator had what is likely to be the largest kickoff ever seen for any candidate in the history of the caucuses.
His crowds in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were huge - two or three thousand per event. In Ames, about 5,000 people were at the Hilton Coliseum. Even a lowly house party in Iowa Falls attracted 200.
Yepsen does note that a number of those in attendence "were ringers who trekked in from Illinois" and that going to see someone speak -- even trekking through the cold and snow to do so -- does not necessarily indicate that one supports for that candidate, but that "quick scans of the parking lots showed cars from a variety of counties" in Iowa, which could augur well for Obama's candidacy.
Polling out of Iowa has quite consistently shown Obama in third place in the state, at least dating back to December, with either John Edwards or (solely in the case of American Reseach Group polling) Hillary Clinton maintaining a lead in the early nominating state. But that doesn't mean that Obama -- or for that matter any other candidate, including those currently at the top of the heap as well as those polling in the low single digits -- won't be able to significantly boost their amount of support before Iowans head to the caucuses in 11 months. So if Obama can turn the thousands who showed up to see him speak into avid supporters, be might be able to catapult ahead of his competitors and score a key, early victory in Iowa in January 2008.
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