Last Night's Leftovers

I spent last night at the Iowa Democrats' rally at Barack Obama's Iowa Campaign Headquarters. I'm covering the D's tonight, so I thought it would be good to be there. The Dems kept cautioning against getting too cocky. But Tom Harkin did seem to walk that cocky line, a bit. He said something like John McCain isn't quite burnt toast but he is an extra toasted English muffin. Now, that's a soundbite.

Timing was a bit of a problem last night. The rally started at 9pm and was set up to be the backdrop for television stations' 10pm live shots. The speakers went short though. Governor Chet Culver spoke only about five minutes. Who expected that? Tom Harkin spoke last. Staffers kept getting him to stretch his words, so the event wouldn't end early. It almost worked. He quit a few minutes before ten, leaving our backdrop a mostly quiet and empty stage. Supporters did try a few cheers and organizers cranked up the music. So all wasn't lost. Ah, timing:)