A couple of instant lessons from the Iowa primary. One: protectionism is once again proven to be a failure as a vote-getter. Dick Gephardt made it the central message of his campaign. He got 10% of the vote, in a state he has spent the last several decades trying to win. Two: opposition to the war is not as strong as some believed, even among Democrats. The two frontrunners, Kerry and Edwards, both voted to authorize the president to go to war. Dean, the anti-war candidate, did not even gain a majority of those voters who professed themselves anti-war, suggesting that they had other issues on their minds. He rose to prominence by courting those with a visceral dislike for President Bush, but in the end those voters, pragmatically enough, voted for the candidate most likely to beat him. So it's Kerry, Edwards and Dean going into New Hampshire, where they will be joined by Clark (and Lieberman, though his campaign seems to have fizzled). Gephardt's toast. Dean may be after New Hampshire.