The Iowa's Impack on Obama

Advance spin
Ben Smith, Politico

Chuck Todd plays out the scenarios.

One thought: While conventional insider wisdom is taking the possibility of an Obama win very seriously, and while the prospect of an Obama presidency is something Iowa Democrats are mulling, I'm not sure people around America, or around the world, have really thought about the idea.

Which means that an Obama win would be a giant, multiday, global story, something likely to overwhelm the recalibrated insider expectations.

Obama Would Benefit More From Iowa Win

Gallup
recently asked Americans "to adopt the role of political pundit and speculate about how various possible outcomes in Iowa and New Hampshire might affect the candidacies of the winners and losers."

Key findings: "Americans tend to play up the significance of Barack Obama possibly winning in Iowa, as well as the significance of hypothetical back-to-back defeats for Rudy Giuliani in Iowa and New Hampshire. Americans play down the significance of a John Edwards win in Iowa, and also of Hillary Clinton potentially winning in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Americans have mixed views about what winning Iowa would mean for the campaigns of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee."