Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, the crucial opening test of the US presidential race. But there was little time for celebration yesterday, as the candidates rushed off to New Hampshire, where the first primary election is just five days away.
With his victory on Thursday night, Obama, a US senator who is bidding to become the first black president of the US, pushed expected front runner Hillary Rodham Clinton to third place. John Edwards came in second among Democrats.
In the Republican field, Huckabee, a Baptist preacher-turned-politician, rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory. Huckabee handily defeated Mitt Romney despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars. Just months ago, Huckabee was virtually unknown outside Arkansas, where he served as governor.
PHOTO: EPA
Iowa's results tightened the Democratic field; senators Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd dropped out shortly after the outcome was clear on Thursday night.
Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from Illinois, tapped into Democrats' yearning for change after Republican President George W. Bush's two terms in office. Final Democratic returns showed Obama gaining 38 percent support. Edwards, a former senator who was the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential candidate, finished second, edging out Clinton, wife of former president Bill Clinton.
"We are choosing hope over fear," Obama told a raucous victory rally. "We're choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America."
"A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government," Huckabee told cheering supporters. "It starts here, but it doesn't end here."
The defeats in Iowa are major setbacks for Clinton and Romney, both of whom had long been front runners in the Midwestern state.
Obama now has fresh momentum going into Tuesday's primary elections in New Hampshire, where he and Clinton have been locked in a tight race. A weakened Romney could boost McCain's hopes of winning New Hampshire, where the two Republicans have been tied in the polls. Huckabee has had little support in that northeastern US state.
The Iowa and New Hampshire contests launch an intense, five-week period that will culminate in more than two dozen contests on Feb. 5.
With Bush constitutionally blocked from seeking re-election, both parties had wide-open, costly campaigns. Clinton has led the Democratic race in national polls, while McCain, Huckabee and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have led the Republicans nationally.
Clinton and Edwards vowed to fight on in the New Hampshire primary.
"We have always planned to run a national campaign," Clinton told supporters at a noisy rally.
"I am so ready for the rest of this campaign, and I am so ready to lead," Clinton said.
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