Lessons from Iowa

First, a celebratory WHOOP!

But then back to earth.

The pundits -including many of the Conservative talking heads - are already trying to dismiss Mike's Iowa victory, saying it was due to the evenagelicals, and that he wouldn't have that kind of support elsewhere. (Conveniently ignoring many states where evangelicals are strong and will play a role.)

They also go on to distort and misrepresent his record and his proposals.

Three lessons for us come out of this.

First, Mike won with a minimal "official" staff, but with plenty of grassroots workers - like us. Some of the other candidates paid people to do the work, Huckabee supporters for the most part did the work because they believed in him.

In New York, where there isn't an official campaign structure yet, the work over the next few weeks is up to us. We are the ones who have to make the phone calls, get on the call-in shows, comment in the chat rooms and blogs, write the letters, talk to friends and neighbors. Now is the time to begin.

Second, part of our efforts must be to create truth squads of our own. When we hear the distortions on issues like immigration and taxes, we need to repond immediately with the facts. We need to write letters to the editor. We need to step up.

Finally, we have to make it clear that he is more than just an evangelical and has more that just an evangelical base. We need to get the focus on his practical experience as a successfjul governor and emphasize his many proposals on a variety of issues.