Trying to pass the time

Caucus day has finally arrived!

Journalists are playing cards and watching TV, trying to pass the time before the returns start coming in later tonight. Dozens of bloggers are furiously tapping away at their laptops. Prominent talk radio hosts are filling the room with their rapid-fire, radio-voice commentary. There's a palpable sense of the importance that tonight’s event carries.

A staff member of Iowa Global Warming remarked to us that “the eyes of the world are in this room,” and it’s hard to disagree. Television crews from all the major networks have mini-studios set up and every major daily newspaper has a team on site. “even Al-Jazeera is here,” he said.

Here’s a photo from inside the media center. It’s starting to fill up, but we expect to see dozens more fill the room by night’s end.