Iowa Democrats Like Obama..and So Do I

   Good evening, friends.

   Congratulations are in order for both Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee for winning the Iowa caucuses today. Huckabee, as a former fat man turned normal-sized man, is a likable fellow but is way too down with Jesus for my tastes (I suppose that is not surprising given that he is an ordained Baptist minister!) A fellow Republican, he of two first names (yes, Ron Paul!) is my current candidate of choice but I could be happy with Obama.

   I read "The Audacity of Hope" a few months back and was quite impressed. I think he has a lot going for him.

   Namely, he has been against the invasion of and subsequent occupation of Iraq from the beginning (granted he was not in the Senate at the time of the vote to invade which gives him a break that fellow Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and John Edwards did not get).

   He happens to be black which may make the rest of the world think of us less as redneck cowboys (something our current president tries hard to reinforce each time he opens his mouth).

   And most importantly, from my perspective, he has an attitude refreshingly bereft of blatant partisanship. This combination, I believe makes him more electable in the general election than either Edwards (overtly anti-Republican) or Clinton (painfully polarizing, deservedly or not).

   Though I think Paul would make the most significant turn away from the current Washington establishment (epitomized by the Bush administration but represented nearly as blatantly by the business-as-usual Democrat-controlled houses of Congress) I do think Obama would represent a pleasant breath of fresh air attempting to make politics more civil and trying to repair our severely damaged reputation internationally.

   Anyway, this is just the beginning of what I suspect will be an interesting few months (if not longer!) For now, if you are eligible to do so, by all means exercise your right to vote!