Acknowledging Change in the Air

From The Washington Post:

By more than 2 to 1, caucusgoers polled as they entered their precincts said change, not experience, was the most important quality in determining their vote.

Clinton launched her White House run as the presumed nominee, banking on her experience and on lingering affection for her husband's presidency to amass a war chest that reached $100 million by year's end and a political organization that set her apart from her competitors. She wasn't just the only candidate ready to walk into the White House and be president from the first minute on the job; she would lead a Clinton restoration -- a view held by many who served in Bill Clinton's administration.

Against that vision was Obama's contention that the electorate at large -- and Democrats in particular -- want to embrace something different rather than go back.

The Clinton campaign had long maintained that Iowa was her toughest state and, in a leaked memo last spring, a senior campaign aide went as far as to suggest that she skip it.