CBS, CNN and NBC have projected that Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee — the GOP candidate who is not a favorite of the Republican establishment, the White House or talk show host Rush Limbaugh — will win the Republican Iowa caucus vote, thus propelling himself into the media spotlight and undercutting former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the onetime favorite there.
Mike Huckabee will win the Iowa Republican caucus, CNN projects, based on early results.
With 15 percent of precincts reporting, Huckabee had the support of 36 percent of voters, compared to 23 percent for Mitt Romney. Fred Thompson had 15 percent and John McCain had 12.
On the Democratic side, early results show John Edwards with a narrow lead over rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
With 23 percent of precincts reporting, Edwards had the support of 33 percent of voters, compared to 32 percent each for Clinton and Obama. Bill Richardson had 2 percent of the vote.
Polls taken as Iowans entered the first-in-the-nation caucuses show a tight race for both parties.
The first wave of entrance polling shows Romney and Huckabee leading the GOP side. On the Democratic side, Clinton is holding a narrow edge over Obama and Edwards, according to CNN analysis of entrance polls.
These are just entrance polls, however, and the numbers are extremely fluid.
With such a close race on both sides, voter turnout is key.
Huckabee, with strong evangelical support, is an example of the kind of “fresh face” disgruntled American voters have chosen from time to time. Think Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter.
But his stunning victory here is now a big blow to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who poured tons of money he raised and his own fortune into winning in Iowa.
Now Romney will go into New Hampshire without “Big Mo” — who could move over and smile on Arizona Senator John McCain, who is coming on strong there.
Huckabee’s victory could also be seen as a blow to a man who is not there: President George Bush. Huckabee criticized Bush’s lone-ranger like foreign policy and even made a wisecrack about Bush waiting a long time to read Iran intelligence reports.
And the vote seemingly answered a question: voters did NOT hold his highly denounced press conference where he said he would not run a negative ad about Romney and showed it to reporters anyway — thus getting his message out perhaps even more strongly than if he paid for the ad.
But the night is a nightmare for Romney. Neither deep pockets, nor exhausting schedules could keep his once comfortable lead from whittling away.
MSNBC adds:
Entrance polls by NBC News and other news organizations and early results showed Obama with a slim lead among Democrats and Huckabee as leading on the GOP side.
Among Republicans, the largest group of voters said the most important quality in picking a candidate was one who shared their values. Somewhat fewer said they wanted a candidate who says what he believes, while fewer still were looking for experience and a chance to win in November.
CBS News projects Mike Huckabee the winner of the Iowa Republican caucuses.
According to early results of CBS News entrance polls of caucus-goers in Iowa, Democrat Barack Obama is pulling ahead of Hillary Clinton with John Edwards lagging behind them.
Mitt Romney is second among Republicans.
Huckabee’s win was partly fueled by Republican caucus attendees’ concern with values. Just under half of attendees chose “shares my values” as the candidate characteristic that mattered most to them in deciding their support – compared to a third who wanted a candidate who says what he believes, and 14% who want a candidate with experience. Among those who wanted a candidate that shared their values, nearly half supported Huckabee.
UPDATES on the breaking news will come here — or in separate posts.
ABC has also called it:
ABC News projects that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will win the Iowa Caucuses, beating out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a two-man race for the Republican party’s top spot in Iowa.
The victory follows a surging December for Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who has described his campaign as “shoestring” and said that Romney, a business executive before becoming governor, has outspent his campaign “20-1.”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.