Huckabee, Obama win Iowa caucuses

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Mike Huckabee scored a resounding victory over Mitt Romney, and Barack Obama toppled a tightly bunched Democratic field Thursday in the Iowa caucuses, the first test of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor once considered a near-fringe candidate, downed a much-better-financed Romney by drawing support from Iowa evangelicals and first-time caucus goers.

Obama, an Illinois senator and political newcomer, rode a promise of change as Democrats surged to Iowa's precinct caucuses in record numbers. His victory over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, suggested a hunger among Democrats to find a new voice and perhaps a new approach to politics. The fourth-place finisher, Bill Richardson, could gain only 2 percent.

On the Republican side, John McCain and Fred Thompson were in a tight race for the third-place spot.

After camping out for months in Iowa's cafes and town halls, the candidates were making a quick exit Thursday night, flying overnight to New Hampshire for a furious four days of campaigning leading up to the state's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday.

The fast turnaround reflects the shortest and earliest nominating calendar in history. By Feb. 5, in a Super Tuesday extravaganza involving 22 states, a majority of Americans will have had their shot at shaping the 2008 presidential field.