Iowa Caucus Speeches

Here are speeches by 7 of the candidates following last night's Iowa Caucuses.

• Obama's speech is inspiring, with larger themes.  He's going to win the nomination.
• Hillary's speech is a bit melancholy.  Her message about "being ready on day one" falls flat for me.  Most presidents have a learning curve.  It is how they do in the long run that matters.  Still, I hope we manage to elect a woman president in the not-too-distant future.
• Edwards' speech is surprisingly depressing.  It is important to bring up the problems the US and the world face, but he does it all through disheartening anecdotes.  That doesn't play well with the American public.  On the other hand, he is right that some change will happen only via confronting entrenched interests.
• Huckabee comes across as a nice guy, and he has great timing (just listen to his first line).  It is too bad that he has very right wing positions.  For example, he is against embryonic stem cell research and wants a much more regressive tax system.  He also doesn't believe in evolution.
  
• McCain's speech is from New Hampshire and is quite short.
• I didn't listen to the others, though I've heard Romney's joke about "winning the silver".  He isn't as funny as Huckabee, by a long shot.  I have no idea what Romney's positions really are.