Obama wins 'Coffee Bean Caucus'

After months of political events and bean dropping, caucus time has finally come for Iowa and the Hamburg Inn No. 2.

The iconic Iowa City diner, which has become a political hotspot, was packed with patrons munching on pancakes, bacon and eggs and possibly hoping for a shot to share their political views with the nation.

CNN’s American Morning Show was at the Hamburg Inn early on Wednesday to broadcast live, interview locals about their plans for Caucus Day and unveil the winner of the “One Bean One Vote” Iowa Coffee Bean Caucus. Despite temperatures being in the single digits, the diner was constantly full with many people sporting campaign stickers and t-shirts.

“I think we’re getting a nice crowd,” said Dave Panther, the owner of Hamburg Inn. “It’s been a really good mix, a little bit of everybody.”

Though Iowa City is predominantly comprised of Democrat supporters, many Republican supporters came out for breakfast and to make their presence known.

“I’m a big supporter of Rudy Giuliani and I knew CNN was going to be here and I wanted to see what they had to say,” said University of Iowa junior Kendall Sater.

The political science major from Bartlett, Ill., said she wasn’t expecting so many people to come out so early in the morning.

“It’s kind of weird for me because I’m from Illinois,” Sater said.

However, Iowa City resident Bob Hibbs said he wasn’t surprised by the big turn out. Hibbs said he and his wife came early to the diner to make sure they got a seat and to take in “the excitement of the election process.”

“We’re in the political mood right now,” Hibbs said.

Many candidates have appeared at the Hamburg over the last few months as they geared up for the Iowa Caucus. Former President Bill Clinton and Democratic hopeful John Edwards also made impromptu visits to the diner while they were in Iowa City.

However, it was Barack Obama who came out as the big winner of the Coffee Bean Caucus. Obama got more than twice as many votes as any other candidate with 1,733. Hillary Clinton placed second with 830 and Edwards received 445. Trailing behind several other Democratic candidates, Ron Paul led the Republicans with 132 votes.

Panther said while it was somewhat bittersweet that the political fervor will like wane once the politicians start focusing on the New Hampshire primary after Thursday, he enjoyed the excitement.

“It’s been fun,” he said. “It’ll be interesting now to see who shows up to the real caucus and how it turns out.”

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