Obama campaign top strategist David Axelrod said, “He can't help but be optimistic about tonight's results.”

He described the energy bubbling at the Iowa headquarters as “incredible,” but refused to predict exactly where his candidate will finish tonight.

“We're in uncharted waters,” he said. “We've never in a campaign like this before.”

Axelrod expressed confidence that there would be an elevated turnout in tonight's caucuses, saying that the campaign expects 150,000 Democrats. That would be about a 20 percent increase over the 2004 turnout and consistent with polling information that projects a bump of young and first-time voters. Polls that show Obama ahead in tonight's race suggest an increased turnout would be a key ingredient to an Obama victory.

Read the rest of Marc Cooper's post here.

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