It's really 2008 now, and the pundits are sharpening their talons. Who's saying what in the hours since Obama and Huckabee became the new frontrunners in the race for the White House?
The left is rather self-congratulatory on turnout numbers. They're happy with their field overall and seem prepared to lend backing, or at least congratulations, to Obama. The right, which has yet to rally behind any candidate, seems wary of their winner.
Read on for a round-up of the early reaction to Iowa's outcome...
Drudge is leading with a photo of the Obama family captioned, "Mr President?" with a smaller pic of Huckabee labelled, "Huck-a-zoom ..."
Ross Douthat at the Atlantic tells the preacher man to cool it with the religion talk.
Michelle Malkin says: "Obama gave the peppiest speech of the night - and his supporters registered the loudest on the applause-o-meter." She also gives Paul Mirengoff at Power Line a nod, quoting his reference to Huckabee as a "big spending governor who doesn't know much about foreign policy but did stay at a Holiday Inn Express". Who's side is she on, again?
Bloggers at the NRO'sthe Corner seem to be saying anyone but Huckabee, with a brief post on Thompson staying in the race and another giving Romney a boost. Something to like from Daniel Casse: "I don't know what Huckabee means for conservatism. But it promises a helluva party for the angry Left."
Townhall's Mary Katherine Ham is sick of the Edwards' accent: "The Edwardses say 'y'all' or 'whyyy' one more time in their exaggerated bastardizations of the accent of my home state, I will be tempted to swear off both words myself." She also harps on Obama's speech patterns: "He sounds awfully preacher-esque. More than normal, drawing out his youuuus and theeeeys." Huckabee is describes as "predictably charming".
Fred Barnes writes the Weekly Standard's web lead, "The End of Inevitability: Obama in the driver's seat", which focuses on the opposition party.
The Journal's Susan Davis predicts Romney's fall from her front-row seat in Des Moines. Where's the love for the businessman in the bunch?
In further proof of Ann Coulter's total irrelevance in the party, despite her place on the Telegraph's list of America's most influential conservatives , her website has a January 2 post about Kwanzaa. Odd. Even for her.
The American Prospect leads with a story by Thomas Schaller on how disastrous the night was for the Grand Old Party - while wondering whether the real Republican winners are the candidates who opted out of playing in the cornfields.
Politico is running with Clinton's confidence crisis.
The Nation doesn't mention Hillary in its top two Iowa stories: "Obama's Big Night," from John Nichols, and "Keep Edwards' message alive," from Katrina Vanden Heuvel.
Daily Kos criticizes New York Times writer /a>'s wording in a piece - he wrote: "Whether it was because Iowans were searching for an agent of change or they wanted to send a message that a white state would elect a candidate regardless of race, Senator Barack Obama seized victory here" - as vaguely racist. [Ah - looks like Zeleny's copy has been "fixed".]
Kos also gives a shoutout to dropout Dodd, who has his work cut out on the Hill regarding FISA; gleefully notes the discrepancy in turnout figures that vastly favoured Dems, and informs readers that the GOP's site crashed during the night's excitement.
Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic makes a worthwhile observation about a key difference between the Democrats and the Republicans that really played out in Iowa: "[Obama] won this race not because the caucus-goers found him the least objectionable alternative, but because they found him the most appealing. They liked his speeches. They liked his ideas. They liked him."
John Aravosis atAmericaBlog also delights in the turnout numbers, noting that third-place Democratic finisher Hillary Clinton counted almost twice as many supporters as Republican winner Mike Huckabee.
ThinkProgress is pretty straight right now, with simple live updates ... also pleased that their side is drawing in the voters.
HuffPo: More turnout talk.
There surely will be more opinions by morning. Tune in then.
