'I trust him' -- standoffish Iowans flocking to Obama

It's good to see the reaction Obama's getting in Iowa (which is the same everywhere, as best I can tell):

But there is something about Barack Obama that is challenging Iowans' solid, basic instincts, even as they try to resist making a decision so soon. After all, it's a year before the Iowa caucuses, and there are many Democratic candidates passing through: Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden.

Except for Clinton, none of them draw the crowds that Obama, a seeming political pied piper, does. The annual steak fry fund-raiser thrown by Sen. Tom Harkin in September first introduced Obama to Iowans, and they can't get enough, crowding gymnasiums across the state. "I know this man will one day run to lead our country" wrote one local blogger after watching the steak fry on C-SPAN.

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'I trust him' -- standoffish Iowans flocking to Obama

 

February 23, 2007

BY JENNIFER HUNTER Staff Reporter

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/269879,CST-NWS-hunter23.articleprint

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowans see themselves as a pragmatic people; they deliberate stubbornly before they reach a decision, particularly when it comes to choosing presidential nominees.

They like to meet and query the candidate up close in a neighbor's living room or the local school library. And they are demanding; they want to see the candidate again and again before offering support.