Barack Obama in Iowa

David Yepsen warns people not to get too excited about Obama. Still, I think the size of the crowds that came out to see Obama are noteworthy.

His crowds in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were huge - two or three thousand per event. In Ames, about 5,000 people were at the Hilton Coliseum. Even a lowly house party in Iowa Falls attracted 200.

This is impressive - even though some of these folks were ringers who trekked in from Illinois. They can’t vote in an Iowa caucus, although being from Illinois they’ll probably figure out a way to do it. (Let the record show that the first question Obama took at an Iowa town meeting was from some guy from Naperville, Illinois.)

Some quick scans of the parking lots showed cars from a variety of counties. This is important because it does a candidate no good to pack a few precincts in one or two towns. After the candidate has won three or four delegates in the precinct, it’s pointless to run up the score. Caucus victories are won by candidates who get supporters to all caucuses, not just a few in college towns.

This makes me wonder how much support Hillary Clinton will have once she has to go face-to-face in debates with Obama and John Edwards. I'm guessing not much.