"What We Learned in Iowa"

From Matt Bai's post in The Caucus (NY Times political blog):

John Edwards is arguing that the party needs to go back to its Rooseveltian roots. Having come to Iowa as a thoughtful advocate for the poor, Edwards leaves the state as a high-decibel crusader for a more partisan kind of presidency, one that would aggressively take on Republicans and their allies in industry.

Hillary Clinton is arguing for a return to the governing model of the 1990s, with its emphasis on pragmatism and achievable change. In her view, what the party needs is another leader who will competently work the levers of government, repelling conservative extremists where necessary but working with Republicans wherever possible.

Then there’s Barack Obama, whose lofty argument centers more on a postpartisan notion of the presidency—the idea that what Democrats need in a president is not a return to industrial-age populism or Clinton-era realism, but a next-generation leader who can recast the debate. Obama holds himself out as the reformer who can persuade others to leave behind the binary and intractable disagreements of the past.

Barack Obama