The Iowa Harvest

The only definite conclusions to be drawn from the Iowa caucus results are that Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson are no longer viable candidates. The Democrats have a three-person race, while the Republicans still have five to choose from. Iowa has crowned no one as a presumptive nominee, but it has done its part in the process of elimination. Anyone who thinks that Obama or Huckabee has clinched a nomination tonight is foolish. Anyone who thinks that Romney, Clinton or any of the other survivors are mortally wounded is jumping to conclusions. Recently history tells us that it's simply too soon to tell how the party campaigns will end. We've probably learned more in the run-up to the caucuses than in the immediate event, just as we'll learn more in the days between now and when New Hampshire votes than on the night of the primary. This isn't much to say, but then again, I don't have to fill air time on a 24-hour news channel. If you're still watching one of those as I write, you're probably wasting your time, unless you're storing up sound bites to make the anchormen and analysts look like fools in the future.