If the young folks actually turn out tonight to take back their country, then Barack will win the Iowa caucuses.
Obama - 46%
Clinton - 31%
Edwards - 8%
Obama, Paul Win MySpace Primary
AdWeek
As MySpace goes, so goes the nation?
Perhaps not, but the Web's biggest social networking site has released the results of the inaugural MySpace Presidential Primary just in time for today's Iowa caucuses, which kick off the 2008 presidential election season.
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Overall, MySpace said that 153,226 members voted in the online primary.
Obama took in 46 percent of the Democratic vote, trailed by Sen. Hillary Clinton's 31 percent. Meanwhile, Paul's surprising win came with 37 percent of the MySpace Republican vote, with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee taking the second and third place slots at 18 and 16 percent, respectively.
Barack has set an ambitious goal of turning the old Iowa caucus turnout model on its head. If they can close to 200,000 caucusers tonight, then Barack will have shocked the world and proved that our people-powered movement is fired up and ready go go.
Will it work? Who knows. But it's great that unlike other conventional campaigns, Barack is actively courting young folks and trying to engage them in our democracy. If he succeeds, our Democratic Party will benefit from an influx of voters in 2008.
Obama to young voters: Prove pundits wrong
Des Moines Register
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, acknowledging that a significant portion of his supporter bloc comes from first-time Iowa caucusgoers, urged students here to prove pundits wrong and show up en masse to Thursday’s Iowa caucuses.
"There’s been a lot of discussion from the pundits lately because they don’t think you’re going to show up," Obama said to a crowd of more than 1,500 people in Coralville this afternoon. He said pundits say of young, first-time caucusgoers: "They’re not going to show up. They’re young people. Students never show up.’"
Some people in the crowd, which was heavily attended by college-aged people, booed.
"That’s what they said," Obama responded. "They said, ‘a lot of them are independents. They never show up.’ Are you going to prove them wrong?"
The crowd erupted into loud cheers.
Obama puts hope on first-time caucus goers
The Hill
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is hoping that first-time caucus attendees will push him over the edge Thursday night and deliver a victory in the Iowa caucus.
The senator has made it part of his stump speech to quiz those flocking to see him if they are caucus novices, and a great number of hands shoot up when Obama asks the audiences at his campaign events if they will participate in the caucuses for the first time.
If the most recent poll by The Des Moines Register is to be believed, an Obama win here would largely happen on the backs of these first-time caucus goers and self-described independents. The senator is making no secret of his effort to target those first-timers who do not traditionally turn out reliable support.
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Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), who has endorsed Obama, told The Hill after the event that he is hearing from a number of independents and Republicans who say they are going to caucus for Obama.
"I have to believe they’re going to come out," Loebsack said.