It’s Iowa Caucus Day! *crickets*

Here are a few news item floating around that may interest you:

Obama wins Iowa "Coffee Bean Caucus"

A popular diner and political stop in Iowa City released the results of its ceremonial caucus yesterday. The winner: President Barack Obama. Runner-up: Michele Bachmann.

Each presidential campaign season, The Hamburg hosts its “Coffee Bean Caucus,” to gage how its customers will vote. Diners are given a coffee bean to place in a jar of the candidate they choose.

For a complete list of results, click here.

More about the Hamburg Inn and the unofficial caucus.

---------

Santorum campaign giddy over surge in Iowa

“Will you send us money, now?” That’s essentially what Rick Santorum’s campaign is asking supporters via email. Suddenly, it’s clear he’s a (fecal) force to be reckoned with.

A late Monday night email, titled “your blood will boil (sic),” sounded the alarm for donations. Here’s an excerpt:

“Because of this dramatic political shift, my opponents are frantically using every tool they have to attack me. The media, of course, is glad to highlight them in order to raise their credibility. One robocall asked thousands of Iowans to call my personal cell phone after accusing me of being a liberal. Others are calling me a radical conservative. A volunteer just told me she that she received eight robocalls in a few hours -- and they were all against me. People are literally unplugging their phones.”

---------

Santorum endorses the Washington Post

All due respect to The Washington Post’s dogged reporters out on the campaign trail; a Monday article detailing Santorum’s turn in the spotlight was so good it turned up word-for-word on the candidate’s website.

Not a bad thing, I guess. Hopefully the newspaper compensates its reporters more than the campaign would have paid a publicist to whip up a similar piece.

To read the article, click here.

---------

New York Times all over the candidates in Iowa

The old gray lady has a full team of reporters, one for each candidate, filing dispatches from the campaign trail.

To read their accounts, click here.