Presidential Elections 2008

Gray-haired veterans in narrow VFW caps dotted the crowds, pledging their undying allegiance. Independent voters quibbled and complained about concerns on some policy details, then said they would sign on, all the same. Reporters fought for the few seats at bull sessions in the back cabin of the "Straight-Talk Express." Sen.

It was anyone's guess what would win out on the campaign trail Friday with Barack Obama -- glee, fatigue or a growing pugnacity. There he was, buoyant but baggy-eyed, fresh from a resounding victory in Iowa's Democratic caucuses, standing in a drafty airplane hangar here and rallying a whole new set of troops. "My throat's still a little torn up, but my spirits are high because last night the American people began down the road to change," he said.

Ann Owen, a seventh-grader from West Branch, Iowa, had a tough initiation when she volunteered for the first time to work a phone bank at her local Barack Obama campaign office. Iowans -- even the nicest ones -- suffer from political call burnout as the caucuses approach. "I got a lot of hang-ups at first," said Ann, who was inviting folks to see Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife. "The rejection didn't feel too good. My eyes started watering.

The haggling that goes on after the first round of voting in Iowa's Democratic caucuses can test a supporter's loyalties. But Carol Coates of Franklin Township, just outside of Des Moines, remained faithful to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson even after he narrowly fell short of the 15% viability threshold in the initial voting at her local Democratic caucus. Richardson needed 23 votes to stay in the running and had 22. "Go away!"

Lessons from the 2008 Iowa caucuses (subject to change in four years, given the imponderables of politics): Formative years: Relying on younger voters, less partisan ones and those who have not caucused before can be a winning formula, as Barack Obama's triumph in the Democratic presidential race illustrated. In previous campaigns, even broaching this scenario probably would have gotten a consultant fired.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton criticizes rival Barack Obama's record on abortion rights in a mailing sent to New Hampshire voters -- her first direct attack on the Illinois senator since his Democratic victory in Iowa. The mailer says that seven times during his tenure in the Illinois state Senate, Obama declined to take a position on abortion bills, whereas Clinton has been a defender of abortion rights.

As presidential candidates battle in New Hampshire and beyond, an older generation of prominent politicians is bemoaning the whole polarized scene -- grousing that could encourage New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to jump into the race and transform the political landscape. On Monday, a bipartisan group of these elders is meeting at the University of Oklahoma to urge candidates to set a less divisive tone and stop catering to their narrow political bases.

Their critiques crackling with animosity, Republican presidential candidates took turns Saturday upbraiding one another -- and, much of the time, former New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney -- in a debate whose tension illustrated the grave stakes in Tuesday's primary for many of the men on the stage. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, came under sequential fire from Arizona Sen. John McCain on his campaign ads, New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani on immigration, former Arkansas Gov.

Excerpts from the victory speech by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to his supporters in Des Moines after the Iowa caucuses: I'm amazed, but I'm encouraged, because tonight what we have seen is a new day in American politics. A new day is needed in American politics, just like a new day is needed in American government. And tonight it starts here in Iowa. But it doesn't end here. It goes all the way through the other states and ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. one year from now.

Excerpts from Sen. Barack Obama's victory speech to his supporters in Des Moines after the Iowa caucuses: You know, they said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do. . . .