Has it all just begun….or is it about to end?

This seemingly endless presidential election season should have just kicked off in Iowa yesterday. But some see it as the sort of finale of the past year of campaigning, and predict it will all be over soon. Certainly by Super Tuesday in February. That’s because the major media thrive on saturation coverage and analysis, telling America what we think and what it means.

Last night, I saw them scrambling to figure out what happened in Iowa. Though Mike Huckabee was predicted to win, and Barack Obama was recently seen as the frontrunner, their victories brought some shock and awe through the media ranks. Like pronouncements that Huckabee’s was “a stunning victory”, and Obama’s was a windstorm of raw grassroots power. I heard media analysts gushing about the energy and determination of the people in those caucuses, an energy they didn’t see coming.

Here’s one snip from deep in a Wall Street Journal article that says a lot:

In their victory speeches Thursday night, Messrs. Obama and Huckabee struck similar chords and distinguished themselves from their respective fields — portraying themselves as unifiers and change agents who didn’t view the world in simply Republican and Democratic hues.

That’s the key to what’s going on in American politics right now. Voters no longer want the people they voted for to stay in office. Look what the past year has been like since Congressional power changed hands, when the Democratic leaders promised change. Nothing changed, unless it was for the worse, since it’s been a year of gridlock and issues like immigration went absolutely nowhere.

Last night and today, the media are all over the stories of what happened in Iowa and what will happen in New Hampshire. They’re number crunching poll data, figuring in the evangelical influence, predicting the issues that will define the politics of the next month until they can declare who will be the final two party’s candidates.

But the defining feature of this year’s presidential election is America’s profound displeasure with politics and desire for good government that is not partisan. The story is that we want ‘Other’, not more of same. The two top winners in Iowa are men outside established Washington politics, and that leaves huge concerns about their lack of experience, but at the moment, gives big hope for their ability to bridge the deep divide in the country.

And the story behind that story hasn’t yet taken enough shape to get much attention from big media. Fred Thompson finished third in Iowa practically tied with John McCain, but slightly ahead. Ron Paul was just behind their numbers, with a significant 10 percent support. Hillary Clinton didn’t come in second, she came in third. The heartland is brimming with grassroots activism, and the people are finding voices that speak for them.

Here’s what Peggy Noonan says in today’s column:

And so it begins.

We wanted exciting, we got exciting.

It’s a new day for party politics. And it’s not going to end anytime soon.