After writing about any subject for awhile, I imagine you collect at least a small degree of cynicism if not a healthy heaping helping of it. If you cover car shows, you might get cynical about how the Edsel and the DeSoto never win any prizes. If you cover high school theater competitions, you might lament that schools performing Chekov never win. And if you cover politics, you are convinced that young voters and new voters are mythical creatures that don't exist, and as such cannot matter in an election. Last night in Iowa, young voters and new voters turned out, and Barack Obama benefited.

We're opening up this post for any and all discussion on the Iowa caucus. I'll keep a running tab of everything that's going on in Iowa in the comments. Click in, and join in with your comments on how it's going.

EDIT: OK, the caucuses have officially started. Our reporter on the ground in Iowa will be giving us regular updates as to how it's progressing. See below for more.

The day of the Iowa Thunderdome is here. Today is the day that the presidential election really begins, and it is shaping up to be a long one.