Real story

The second-most underplayed story (the first is here) has already been flagged by a few bloggers who say it better than I could, but I want to draw more attention to it. Keith Olbermann at one point last night pointed out that the real story in last night's numbers could be that twice as many Iowans came out to support Democrats as they did Republicans. The Plank covered this here and this is from Sullivan:

Tonight was in many ways devastating news for the GOP. Twice as many people turned out for the Democrats than the Republicans. Clearly independents prefer the Dems.

Now look at how the caucus-goers defined themselves in the entrance polls. Among the Dems: Very Liberal: 18 percent; Somewhat Liberal: 36 percent; Moderate: 40 percent; Conservative: 6 percent. Now check out the Republicans: Very Conservative: 45 percent; Somewhat Conservative: 43 percent; Moderate: 11 percent; Liberal: 1 percent.

One is a national party; the other is on its way to being an ideological church. The damage Bush and Rove have done - revealed in 2006 - is now inescapable.