Obama's consistent increase in support is making Hillary nervous

In a straw poll held last Sunday, Obama received 29% of the vote—however the voter turnout was notably small with only 120 people—leading one to question the number as a legitimate representation of Iowan’s views. In addition to publically endorsing Obama, this week Oprah initiated her campaign tour to support for Obama. She visited Iowa, New Hampshire and in one of her speeches she asserted, “the amount of time you spend in Washington means nothing unless you are accountable for the judgment you made;” in an effort to defend her candidate from what many see as one his major obstacles, inexperience. Using the anniversary of the signing of the United Nation’s, Universal Human Rights, Obama gave a lengthy speech in the senate how Bush’s administration has not only violated these rights, but also the loss of moral standing. He discussed the U.S.’s responsibility to fight for human rights in countries like Sudan, the D.R. Congo and Pakistan and how women are still seen as unequal to men in most of the world. The speech served as an attack of the incompetence of the Bush administration, their combination of illicit and fear-inducing tactics, and concluded with a summary of what the next president (insinuating his run for office) needs to focus on in foreign policy. In New Hampshire one of the 2006-elected members of the house, Carol Shea-Porter, decided to endorse Obama; an important note is that this congresswoman is strongly anti-war and may be able to pull like-minded voters in New Hampshire—a state that initially everyone thought was a give-a-way for Hillary. One easy way to tell that Obama has a lot of support in Iowa is the decreasing support for Hillary evident by her double spending on Iowa TV commercials as well as the relocation of all of Hillary’s highest campaign managers to Iowa. Hillary's panic clearly stems from recognition that there is an actual possibility of Obama winning in Iowa and the momentum he would pick up would a result--influencing not only the vote in New Hampshire, but also nationally.