I had to work last night, so I was out of the news loop until 6 AM. When I tuned my car radio to the Tom Joyner Morning Show, the upbeat mood of Tom, Sybil and company told me what I wanted to know. Obama won!
He made history in the process. Obama becomes the first African-American presidential candidate to pull off a win in the Iowa caucuses.
Final Democratic returns showed Sen. Obama gaining 38 percent support, with former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards edging out Sen. Clinton for second place. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got 2 percent to finish fourth.
Obama's victory was much closer in the all-important race for delegates. The AP analysis estimated Obama would win 16 delegates, compared to 15 for Clinton and 14 for Edwards. Clinton will win more delegates than Edwards, despite getting fewer votes, because of Iowa's complicated caucus system.
Clinton leads with 175 delegates, including superdelegates, followed by Obama with 75 and Edwards with 46.
A total of 4,051 delegate votes are up for grabs, with the magic number of delegates necessary in order for a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate to be nominated is 2,026.
This win gives Sen. Obama some major momentum going into Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
