Turnout was large in Iowa, as almost twice as many Democrats (220,000) voted in the Iowa Caucuses than in 2004. The Republicans also had a record turnout but not as large (114,000). In either case, both Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) won by at least eight percent over early favorites Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Mitt Romney (R-Mass.).
Early CNN estimates were that 57 percent of Caucus goers had never voted before and that was huge for Obama as he picked up 38 percent of the vote. John Edwards (D-N.C.) finished second with thirty percent and Hillary Clinton had twenty nine.
Even more shocking was that “the experts” said that women would easily vote for Hillary Clinton because she was one of them but Obama also won the Democratic female vote in Iowa with 35 percent to Clinton’s 30 percent. Democrats in Iowa considered the economy, the war in Iraq and health care as the most important issues in voting, according to CNN exit polls.
Huckabee won the religious base and 56 percent of Republicans said that religion mattered a great deal in their voting. Huckabee also won because 40 percent of Republican females voted for him. Overall, Huckabee received 34 percent of the vote, with Mitt Romney having 25 percent of the vote. Republicans that did not consider religion a priority tended to vote for Romney.
Next up is the New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan and South Carolina. Nevada will be the first state that the Latino community may have a large impact in the vote.
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