Wow--a lot to think about post-Iowa.
(
http://www.isebrand.com)
Could this be: More evidence of the continued weakening of unions in America, because Dean and Gephardt got the lion's share of the union endorsements and both placed a miserable 3rd & 4th in Iowa, perhaps because too many unions have become less about workers' rights and more about exploitation of the members by leaders desperate to hold onto their offices?
(Answer: Not necessarily; Iowa was just one--and the earliest--contest for these Democratic candidates. Don't be too quick to draw sweeping conclusions.)
Could this be: Evidence that rhetoric--in the classical (& good) sense--isn't dead &/or that the reality of America as an increasingly 3rd-world-like economically-lopsided nation is getting though to voters, because John Edwards placed a strong 2nd in Iowa, but only after becoming, in the last month, a populist with a fantastic stump speech that is positive insofar as it stresses unifying America, but populist insofar as it also speaks both of "lifting up" the growing % of Americans in poverty and curtailing the power of the shrinking mega-elite cabal, the 1%, who own nearly 50% of all of America's wealth?
(Answer: [see above].)
Could this be: Evidence that the Internet, Dean's special weapon, is better for fundraising than for organizing, or that the enthusiasm of young people sitting behind computers doesn't translate into real efforts and real votes?
(Answer: [see above].)
Could this be: the beginning of the end of Howard Dean, despite the fact that his chances in New Hampshire are much better, since he's from the region and created a strong organization there many months ago?
(Answer: [see above].)
Could this be: the end of the ending of Al Gore? Fat lot of good his endorsement seemed to do for Dean.
(Answer: [see above].)
Could this be: the beginning of the end of Wesley Clark, since Kerry is surging and is also a vet (though arguably cut from the failed Dukakis mold--not a Southerner, someone arguably lacking the "common touch"), despite the fact the Clark--like Kerry--was prematurely written off once before as a viable candidate?
(Answer: [see above].)
No apologies for not offering answers to my own questions--I'm simply not as gifted of a political thinker as so VERY many other participants on dKos, so I'm best suited to take the easy road and merely pose the questions, leaving the informed answers to others.