Bye Bye Birdies [Martin Kady II, Politico]: "Two Senate veterans — Democrats Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut — are abandoning their presidential campaigns after very poor showings Thursday night in the Iowa caucuses."
Blame Iowa [The Editors, New York Times]: "Keeping this race alive so significant numbers of Americans in more
populated states can participate would begin to make up for the
ludicrous spectacle of the past year, which enriched the television
networks and the political consultants (some $300 million already
spent) far more than it enriched the political dialogue. We hope both
parties will wake up and end the undemocratic system in which the
choice of a new president rests far too heavily on nonbinding votes in
January by voters that don’t necessarily represent the rest of the
country."
Clinton: Game On [Jonathan Weisman and John Kane, Washington Post]: "'We're sending a clear message that we are going to have change, and that change will be a Democratic president in the White House in 2009,' [Hillary Clinton] told supporters as she conceded to Barack Obama. But she added: 'What is most important now is . . . how will we win in November 2008 by nominating a candidate that will be able to go the distance? And who will be the best president on Day One? I am ready for that contest.'"
A Run on the Bank [Susan Davis, Wall Street Journal]: "A victory in New Hampshire is now even more critical to Romney’s bid, and if his loss here tonight is indicative of anything, it’s that message beat money. That news should be encouraging for McCain, who like Huckabee, is still struggling to keep his campaign coffers in the black."
Rudy Whistling Dixie [John Podhoretz, Commentary]: "The result in Iowa could not have been better for Giuliani tactically... With no one especially strong on the Republican side through the first few states, the Giuliani strategy of betting it all on Florida on January 29 and the big states on February 5 is looking better than it did a week ago."
Swan Song [David Yepsen, Des Moines Register]: "Iowa was a battle to see who would become the alternative to Hillary Clinton. Edwards lost to Obama. The anti-Hillary forces are likely to rally around Obama, not Edwards."
Blasts on the Past [Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News]: "[S]urrounded by Bill and some of his old aides, [Hillary Clinton] was a tableau of the past, not the future. As she ticked off mind-numbing policy plans as though the presidency is a collection of legislative initiatives, she probably lost a few early votes in New Hampshire, too. Obama gets the essence of the job he is seeking, the idealized version anyway. His victory speech was infectious. His incantation of hope, combined with an eloquent sweep of American history's celebration of the underdog, is much, much more than a promise of policy change. You can't imagine her invoking Valley Forge and Selma the way he did. Her campaign is a campaign. His is a movement."
--Dayo Olopade