Obama Back on Iowa's Hallowed Ground
"People of Iowa, I will always be grateful to you," Obama said. "Think about the journey we've made."
He recalled the long slog in 2007, when polls put him miles behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and critics questioned almost everything about his methodical campaign. When he needed an emotional boost, Obama and his wife Michelle tended to look to Iowa.
"We started the campaign right here," Obama said. "Back then, we didn't have much money and we didn't have many endorsements. We weren't given much chance by the polls or the pundits. We knew how steep our climb would be."
The tide turned in the weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses, where Obama handily beat Clinton and former senator John Edwards. His primary campaign would become a roller coaster as he and Clinton traded wins for five more months -- longer than either candidate had expected, win or lose.
"On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated," Obama said, clearly buoyed by the reception, the sunshine and the polls that show him leading Republican John McCain in advance of Tuesday's election.
"What you started here in Iowa has swept the nation. We're seeing the same turnout," Obama called out. "A whole new way of doing democracy started right here in Iowa and it's all across the country now."
Obama still has some business to take care of. Polls show him ahead in Iowa, which President Bush carried four years ago. But the McCain campaign believes it has a shot here, and is deploying vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to Dubuque on Monday.
The Obama campaign, racing across the country and playing to huge crowds in the final days of Campaign 2008, would love to end the race with a win here, where it all started.
"As great as all these moments are," campaign strategist David Axelrod mused as he watched Obama bask in the cheers, "I don't think we'll ever quite capture the feeling of that last night in Iowa when we won. This is hallowed ground for us."
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