Good for Obama, but Hillary is still strong

However much Jim Naughtie wishes to affect surprise at his victory, Barack Obama was always the most likely victor among Democrats in Iowa. And John Edwards had staked his whole campaign on winning the eccentric caucus there. So we would be foolish to get carried away with the excitement of Obama's undeniably good result in this bizarre contest. Hillary Clinton remains well ahead in most states with large numbers of delegates, and with the big contests over by early February this year, it is likely that the Iowa contest will appear rather less important within a matter of weeks.
UPDATE: Andrew Stephen has a characteristically sharp analysis on the situation on the New Statesman website, not least on the foreign policy nous of the two Iowa victors.