Several news organisations had reports from inside Iowa's caucuses on Thursday, and two of them revealed some disturbing insights into opponents of Barack Obama's candidacy.
The New York Times reported on a caucus in Belmond, Iowa, and the experience of one couple who attended the Democrat caucus there:
Rex went to Clinton and I wore a Obama sticker. As people milled and talked, he changed before the count as he heard people stating they could not vote for someone with a last name like Obama. One said, 'He needs to stay in Chicago and take care of his family.'
The National Review had perhaps the best report from inside a Democratic caucus, in Council Bluffs, and its reporters described an attempt to attract the vote of a Dodd supporter from a firefighters' union who was walking out after his candidate failed to gain enough votes in the first round:
He grabs his coat, but before he can leave, an Edwards campaign ambassador approaches. "What do you guys hang from the ladders at firefighters' funerals?" he asks the men in yellow. An awkward moment ensues. "The American flag!" he answers his own question. Then, he points right at [Obama's precinct captain], and declares: "Obama doesn't salute the American flag." For good measure, he adds that Obama was sworn in to the Senate on the Koran. (Not true, but all's fair in the heat of a caucus moment.)
