[Dialogue] Michael Moore on target re: Iowa.

[KroegerD at aol.com]

"It's the War," Says Iowa to Hillary -- And a "Happy Blue Year" To All!  
...from Michael Moore  
January 3, 2007  
Friends,  
There was no doubt about it. The message from Iowa tonight was simple, but  
deafening:  
If you're a candidate for President, and you voted for the war, you lose. And 
 if you voted and voted and voted for the war -- and never once showed any  
remorse -- you really lose.  
In short, if you had something to do with keeping us in this war for  
four-plus years, you are not allowed to be the next president of the United  States.  
Over 70% of Iowan Democrats voted for candidates who either never voted for  
the invasion of Iraq (Obama, Richardson, Kucinich) or who have since admitted  
their mistake (Edwards, Biden, Dodd). I can't tell you how bad I feel for  
Senator Clinton tonight. I don't believe she was ever really for this war. But  
she did -- and continued to do -- what she thought was the politically 
expedient  thing to eventually get elected. And she was wrong. And tonight she must 
go to  sleep wondering what would have happened if she had voted her conscience 
instead  of her calculator.  
John Edwards was supposed to have come in third. He had been written off. He  
was outspent by the other front-runners six to one. But somewhere along the 
road  he threw off the old politico hack jacket and turned into a real person, 
a  fighter for the poor, for the uninsured, for peace. And for that, he came 
in a  surprise second, ending up with just one less delegate than the man who 
was  against the war from the beginning. But, as Joshua Holland of AlterNet 
pointed  out earlier today, Edwards is still _the only front-runner who will  
pull out all the troops_ (http://www.alternet.org/election08/72344/)  and do it 
as quickly as possible. _His speech  tonight_ 
(http://www.johnedwards.com/media/video/iowa-caucuses/)  was brilliant and moving.  
What an amazing night, not just for Barack Obama, but for America. I know  
that Senator Obama is so much more than simply the color of his skin, but all of 
 us must acknowledge -- and celebrate -- the fact that one of the whitest 
states  in the U.S. just voted for a black man to be our next president. Thank 
you,  Iowa, for this historic moment. Thank you for at least letting us believe 
that  we are better than what we often seem to be. And to have so many young 
people  come out and vote -- and vote for Obama -- this is a proud moment. It 
all began  with the record youth turnout in 2004 -- the ONLY age group that 
Kerry won --  and they came back out tonight en force. Good on every single one 
of you!  
As the only top candidate who was anti-war before the war began,  Barack 
Obama became the vessel through which the people of this Midwestern state  were 
able to say loud and clear: "Bring 'Em Home!" Most pundits won't read the  
election this way because, well, most pundits merrily led us down the path to  war. 
For them to call this vote tonight a repudiation of the war -- and of  
Senator Clinton's four years' worth of votes for it -- might require the pundit  
class to remind their viewers and readers that they share some culpability in  
starting this war. And, like Hillary, damn few of them have offered us an  
apology.  
With all due respect to Senator Obama's victory, the most important news out  
of the caucus this evening was the whopping, room-busting turnout of 
Democrats.  239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, 
which  was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican. 
And this is  a red state! The Republican caucuses looked anemic. The looks on 
their faces  were glum, tired. As the camera followed some of them into their 
caucus sites,  they held their heads down or turned away, sorta like criminals 
on a perp walk.  They know their days of power are over. They know their guy 
blew it. Their only  hope was to vote for a man who has a direct line to 
heaven. Huckabee is their  Hail Mary pass. But don't rule him out. He's got a sense 
of humor, he's  downhome, and he said that if elected, he'd put me on a boat 
to Cuba. Hey, a  free Caribbean vacation!  
Bottom line: People have had it. Iowa will go blue (Happy Blue Year,  
Hawkeyes!). Whomever your candidate is on the Dem side, this was a good night.  Get 
some sleep. The Republicans won't go down without a fight. Look what  happened 
when Kerry tried to play nice. So Barack, you can talk all you want  about 
"let's put the partisanship aside, let's all get along," but the other  side has 
no intention of being anything but the bullies they are. Get your game  face 
on now. And, if you can, tell me why you are now the second largest  recipient 
of health industry payola after Hillary. You now take more money from  the 
people committed to stopping universal health care than any of the  Republican 
candidates.  
Despite what your answer may be, I was proud to sit in my living room tonight 
 and see you and your family up on that stage. We became a bit better 
tonight,  and on that I will close by saying, sweet dreams -- and on to that other 
totally  white state of New Hampshire!  
Yours,  
Michael Moore
_MMFlint at aol.com_ (mailto:mmflint at aol.com) 
_MichaelMoore.com_ (http://www.michaelmoore.com/) 



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