Lady and Gentlemen, start your engines

The race is on in Iowa.

Barack Obama came to town today after announcing his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in Springfield, Ill. I'm sorry I missed it. Just as I'm sorry to have missed Hillary Clinton's visit last week, although I wasn't invited to that one.

Hillary met with as many people they could crowd into a living room -- fire marshals excluded. Barack packed a high school gymnasium, but promised more intimate visits once the novelty wears off.

It's an interesting phenomena this attention Iowa gets for hosting the nation's first presidential litmus test. I'm not sure it's fair, but I'm not complaining either.

In this election particularly -- where we have a "clean" slate and an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history -- Democratic candidates will roll through town with regularity in the coming months. Republican candidates will come too, but they're irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.

I'm hoping to meet them all, or at least see them in person, before making a commitment. I was encouraged to hear reports from friends attending Barack's appearance today that he took unfiltered questions from an unfiltered audience. What a concept!

I confess an early attraction to John Edwards, if only for his refreshing ability to admit mistakes, and continue to hold a candle for Al Gore, but I'm undecided. I'm not sure why former governor Tom Vilsack is in the race, but maybe familiarity breeds contempt and he'll score better in New Hampshire and Nevada than Iowa.

Barack's critics usually point to his relative lack of a track record. I dismiss this as political straw grasping. After all, what did we know about W before he stole the presidency -- other than the fact that he was a loser in every venture he had ventured?

"My experience, not only as a U.S. senator, but as a state legislator, a civil rights lawyer, as a professor, as a community organizer, I think that mix of experience allows me, maybe, to speak to people in ways they can identify with, and I think that's part of the reasons we're generating such a good response," Obama told the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Perhaps so. But, ultimately, all of the candidates will have to talk about where they stand and not how they think they're perceived. Never a fan of single-issue voting, my choice won't be based on Iraq. That's Bush's cross to bear.