Senator Barack Obama today spoke on the campus of Clemson University in South Carolina. About 3,000 or so, mostly students, stood outdoors in the cold to hear the candidate for president. “I know that a lot of young people have grown up cynical and skeptical about the political process, and don’t believe that change is possible,” Obama said at the top of his speech. “And what I hope to do,” he said, “is to persuade you that anything is possible if you’re ready for change.”

The senator didn’t speak long, but attempted to empower the young voters by letting them know that their vote counts. All they have to do is take a look at Iowa.  Obama explained that although the youth turnout in Iowa was unexpected by political pundits, students came through in unprecedented numbers - something he surely hopes will happen in South Carolina and elsewhere.

Take a listen to the senator’s close to the student voters:

The Obama campaign released a new ad today, airing nationally on CNN and MSNBC - pretty innocuous except that it will hit airwaves in Florida (as well as 49 other states). Because Democrats signed a pledge sponsored by the DNC promising they would not campaign in the Sunshine State after Florida pushed its primary up against the DNC’s wishes. The state was stripped of delegates and Democrats vowed not to campaign there.The Clinton campaign picked up on the Obama ad and pounced, saying on a conference call this was a violation of the pledge and that Clinton would now consider campaigning in Florida in retaliation.

“Both national cable networks told us it would be impossible for us to run advertising nationally that excluded only Florida.  For that reason we consulted with the South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler who told us unequivocally she did not consider this to be in violation of pledge made to the early states,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in response.

The Obama campaign then arranged its own conference call with campaign manager, David Plouffe, who said he believes the Clinton campaign has been looking for a way to break their own pledge not to compete in Florida. This seemingly small window was their opportunity and is part of a pattern of “playing outside the lines” on the part of the Clinton campaign. As evidence, Plouffe cited previous incidents in Nevada, when Clinton precinct captains allegedly tried to shut caucus sites early, and Iowa, where the Clinton campaign didn’t approve of Obama encouraging out of state students to caucus. This type of behavior, Plouffe said, shows that Clinton is willing to “win at all costs.”

The Obama campaign will not campaign in Florida - even if Clinton does. This campaign is about delegates, and Florida has none.

As she did in Iowa, Hillary bought 2 minutes of ad time on a nightly newscast the night before election day — this time on NH’s most influential TV station, WMUR. Unlike that Iowa spot, which was a sober 2 minute address directly to the camera, this one starts with dynamic images of Senator Clinton campaigning throughout the state as she thanks New Hampshire for welcoming her. She then makes basically that same Iowa argument — that she’s ready to lead on day one.

Senator Barack Obama returned to New Hampshire after a solid victory at the Iowa caucuses early Friday morning. He held two rallies in the state, urging voters to embrace his message the way Iowa did Thursday.

“What they realized,” he said of Iowans, “was that the real gamble was to have the same old folks do the same old things, playing the same old Washington game over and over and over again and expecting different results. That’s the gamble we cannot afford. That’s the risk we cannot take. We need to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history, and New Hampshire, that’s what you can do in four day’s time.”

It is evident that Obama is seeking support from New Hampshire’s all-important Independent vote. Throughout the day, Obama touted his ability to bring Republican and Independent voters into his coalition. “If there are Republicans and Independents who are working with me, that makes us stronger and I want to change the electoral map in America. I don’t want another election like 2000 and 2004,” he said in Concord.

So how much weight is the Obama campaign putting on his Iowa victory? Obama himself told reporters en route from Iowa to New Hampshire early this morning that Iowa “sparked a potential movement for change in the country that will be inspiring for a lot of people.”

In the post-glow from the Obama victory, one of the candidate’s Iowa surrogates suggested that the candidate would fare well in the Granite State because the campaign “always” thought he was a stronger candidate there than Iowa (despite his lower poll numbers here in New Hampshire).

But an Obama supporter outside Friday’s annual Democratic 100 Club Dinner fundraiser in Milford, New Hampshire, informed me that, although she hopes Obama can pull off a victory, it seems unlikely because of the state’s views on race. She also pointed out that the state was among the last in the nation to recognize Martin Luther King Day. It wasn’t until 2000 that the state recognized the holiday.

Top Clinton communicators congratulated Barack Obama for his Iowa victory on board the press plane from Des Moines to New Hampshire late last night. “No one should take anything away from Senator Obama tonight. He had a great night,” said traveling spokesman Jay Carson. He said the campaign far exceeded the turnout models they’d built for the caucuses, but Obama just did better.”We had a great night too. He had a better night.”

But the campaign also sought to spin Sen Clinton’s third place finish as just a minor bump in the road. “This was a massive turnout for Iowa tonight. But it is still a relatively small amount of people when it comes to nominating a president,” Carson said. “I think judging the entire nominating process on 8% of the population of one state is a dubious exercise.” New Hampshire is a strong state for the Clinton campaign — and Carson said the Iowa results won’t derail her there. “We’re going to fight on in New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada, then all the states on February 5.”

And questioning Iowa’s shaky history of presidential prognostication, Carson said “Iowa has not always been a great predictor of who will be the next president, or even of who will be the nominee. One candidate has won here in the last 30 years and gone on to be the president, and that’s Jimmy Carter.”

Carson and other top aides said Clinton would be sharpening her message against Obama in the 5 days between Iowa and the New Hampshire primary. “What you’ll continue to see us do in New Hampshire and beyond is not allowing this race to be defined as a choice between change and experience. You cannot achieve change unless you have experience,” he said. “You’ll see us sharpen that distinction as we move forward.’

But Carson wouldn’t say whether that includes TV ads going after Obama in the Granite State. “I’m not going to rule out any ad that draws a contrast, I’m not going to rule in an ad that draws a contrast,” he said. “Certainly not on a plane bound for New Hampshire at one in the morning when the returns here have just come in.”

At 10pm on the night of his handy Iowa victory, Senator Barack Obama took the stage in front of 3200 screaming supporters in downtown Des Moines, with his wife, Michelle, and their daughers, Sasha and Malia. The candidate seemed serene in his victory, and appeared to soak in the moment. There was no reference to his rivals, John Edwards or Hillary Clinton, and the senator did not ask his fans if they were “fired up” or “ready to go.”

Instead he delivered a moving and measured 10-minute speech, thanking the state for building a “coalition for change,” choosing “hope over fear,” and “unity over division.” Obama declared this “the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long. When we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause. When we finally gave Americans who’ve never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do something.”

And it didn’t take him long to appeal to New Hampshire voters. “You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days,” he said just a few minutes upon taking the stage.

Afterwards, on board his campaign plane, the weary candidate told the press, “My throat is hoarse, but my spirits are good.” When Obama was asked to describe his moment of realization upon winning the Iowa caucuses, he loosened his tie and replied, “We felt good for the last two weeks, because we are so proud of what is happening on the ground, we were seeing the crowds, and so regardless how the numbers played out exactly, we were really confident of us having changed how politics operated in this caucus and it makes me very optimistic in this country and I think that we can do it with the country as a whole.”

After a few minutes and shortly before takeoff, he smiled, turned to leave, and said, “Alright, guys. Let me go to sleep now.” Someone yelled out, “Can you?” He turned his head and chuckled, “You bet.”

The plane landed just before 4:30am Eastern Standard Time in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and whisked the winning candidate to his hotel. He begins his day in just a few hours, with a rally at 9:30.

John McCain called Mike Huckabee Thursday night to congratulate him for his upset victory in the Iowa caucuses.

McCain spoke to reporters and supporters in Manchester, NH as the caucus results become clear.

McCain didn’t mention Mitt Romney by name last night. But the Senator has previously criticized Romney for running aggressive and misleading attack ads targeting Huckabee in Iowa and McCain in New Hampshire.

Romney’s defeat in Iowa could weaken him in New Hampshire, where Romney and McCain are running neck and neck.

Presidential hopeful John Edwards placed second in Iowa—a state where he had invested much time, visiting all 99 counties twice in his bid for the presidency.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting Thursday evening, Barack Obama had 38 percent of the vote while John Edwards had 30 percent and Hillary Clinton had 29 percent.

“The status quo lost and change won,” Edwards said to supporters at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in downtown Des Moines following news of Obama’s victory. He restated his populist message of ending corporate greed and fighting for the middle class, and added that “this march of change continues on.”

The senator also said that a candidate’s message meant more to voters than the amount of money he or she has raised. “We saw two candidates who thought their money would make them inevitable,” he said—alluding to rivals Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.

Elizabeth Edwards echoed her husband’s sentiments. She called him a “messenger of change” and said that “despite the fact that he was outspent 6 to 2, that message still got through.”

As he left the stage, Edwards shouted, “there is an energy and momentum behind this campaign that cannot be stopped,” which prompted chants of “Go John Go!” from supporters.

In a concession speech delivered at approximately 9:25 CST, Hillary Clinton congratulated her Democratic rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards, both of whom finished ahead of her here, saying tonight was a “good night for Democrats.” She told cheering supporters (who briefly changed “New Hampshire!” before she took the stage) that she’s always been prepared to run a national race, and said she’s “SO ready for the rest of this campaign.”

Joined on stage by her husband and daughter, Madeleine Albright, Gen Wesley Clark, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and a host of other supporters, she said “we’re going to get up tomorrow and keep pushing as hard as we can to get the message out about what is at stake in this election; because we know that it is literally the future of our country.”

Just before her speech, her campaign manager sent out a statement saying “our campaign was built for a marathon and we have the resources to run a national race.” Read the full statement after the jump.

(more…)

An email sent to traveling Obama press from the campaign reads:

“After visiting the caucus location in Ankeny, Obama went to dinner with family and friends at Flemmings in West Des Moines until about 8:30pm. At 8:30, standing with David Plouffe, he saw that he had been projected the winner.”