The Nation: Obama's Got Momentum in Iowa

[marmar]

OBAMA'S GOT MOMENTUM IN IOWA...Barack Obama keeps picking up momentum in Iowa. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie endorsed his candidacy over the weekend. And a new Des Moines Register poll showed Obama leading Hillary Clinton for the first time, 28 percent to 25 percent, with John Edwards in third at 23 percent. (Among Republicans, the Register poll shows a surging Mike Huckabee finally overtaking Mitt Romney in a potential stunner.)

What's interesting about the poll is not that Obama is leading, but why. Hillary is now lagging among women and members of union households, two categories in which she's performed very well. The poll also finds Clinton experiencing blowback because of her vote for the Senate's Kyl-Lieberman resolution on Iran, which I wrote recently, "opened a new wound and exposed old ones, igniting Iowa's peace community."

As Iowa City Democrat Kathryn Browne told the Register, explaining her preference for Obama, "An Iran war terrifies me." This jibes with my own reporting for "The War Comes Home to Iowa." As one state rep told me, "Her vote was potentially very damaging." Another antiwar organizer said, "In Iowa as many people are listening to what the candidates say about Iran as about Iraq."

Still, Obama shouldn't become too complacent. This race is still very tight and the Clinton campaign is stepping up its attacks. It would almost be better for Obama if he were still the underdog, chipping away at Clinton's lead but not attracting the lion's share of attention.

The Clinton camp even attacked Obama's ambition over the weekend, citing an essay he wrote in kindergarten and the third grade (I'm not kidding) entitled "I Want To Be a President." Shot back Obama spokesman Bill Burton, "I'm sure tomorrow they'll attack him for being a flip-flopper because he told his second grade teacher he wanted to be an astronaut." Zing.


Posted by Ari Berman at 12/03/2007 @ 11:14am

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=256421

[jefferson_dem]

1. But...a month-old poll says Hillary is winning Iowa..

:sarcasm: