Weekly Update (1/4/08)

Iowa Caucus is a Referendum on Progressive Politics
The results are in! Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus, both upsetting the favored candidates. For months polls have leaned towards a Clinton victory on the Democratic side and a Romney victory on the Republican.

The fact that the top two candidates on the Democratic side were Obama and Edwards is extremely significant for progressive politics. Obama has been running his campaign as the progressive alternative to politics as usual in Washington, and Edwards has been running on a strong economically progressive platform. Clinton trailed Edwards by just one percentage point to come in third. Some significant statistics to consider are that Obama took an overwhelming 57% of the under 30 vote, a larger percentage of women's votes than any other Democratic candidate, and received far more votes than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican. These statistics backup DAPAC's research that the country is experiencing an increasingly progressive trend, especially with young voters.

DAPAC needs to capitalize on this opportunity by getting a greater number of progressive Democrats elected to the House. This is the only way to affect policy. No matter who wins the Democratic presidential nomination, it is increasingly likely that that person will become president. He or she will need plenty of progressive legislation to sign into law once in office. The only way to make this happen is to make Congress more progressive.

With the New Hampshire primary only a few days away it is important to build off this progressive momentum. This success should translate to the Congressional primaries where DAPAC has endorsed progressive candidates, some of which are only a month away. These candidates need your support now more than ever, so donate today.

Results of Iowa Caucus
Here are the results in terms of percentages for all the major candidates in the Iowa caucus. On the Democratic side:
Obama: 38%
Edwards: 30%
Clinton: 29%
Richardson: 2%
Biden: 1%
Uncommitted: 0%
Dodd: 0%
Gravel: 0%
Kucinich: 0%

On the Republican side:
Huckabee: 34%
Romney: 25%
Thompson: 13%
McCain: 13%
Paul: 10%
Giuliani: 4%
Hunter: 1%