Obama

By any measure, Barack Obama's victory in the Iowa caucuses over rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards is quite an achievement. As an African American, he managed to garner 38% of the vote in a state that is overwhelmingly white. He attracted more voters than his opponents from almost every demographic group. As a relatively inexperienced junior senator from Illinois, he beat the Democratic Party establishment candidate in Clinton, the self-described voice of experience, and the party's former vice presidential nominee in Edwards, who also talked about the need for change but less convincingly so. In his victory speech, Obama sounded the themes that give even those most cynical about the political process a reason for hope.