Obama storms to victory in shock poll

He opened the way for a black man to enter the White House by taking 38 per cent of the vote in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

The party's former frontrunner Hillary Clinton was left badly wounded, trailing in third place behind John Edwards.

The scale of today's victory - in the first test of public opinion before November's full election - makes Mr Obama favourite for the Democrat nomination. The Republican race was won by outsider Mike Huckabee, a guitar-playing Baptist minister, who left Mormon millionaire Mitt Romney in second place.

But it was Mr Obama's win, by a margin even his supporters had dared not hope for, that spread shockwaves. In a rousing victory speech, flanked by wife Michelle and daughters Malia, eight, and Natasha, six, the 46-year-old said: "We are one people. And our time for change has come. They said this day would never come. They said this country was too divided to ever come together, but at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do.

"This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long, when we finally gave Americans who have never participated in politics a reason to do so."

The Illinois senator - son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas - looks set to be favourite for the Democrat primary election in New Hampshire next week.

Democrats turned out in unprecedented numbers in Iowa - 220,000 compared with 120,000 in 2004 - after an electrifying campaign. The results showed a clash of generations, with voters under 30 supporting Mr Obama over 60-year-old Mrs Clinton by five to one, and voters over 65 backing Clinton two to one. He also won over more women than Mrs Clinton and more independents, showing he is best equipped to expand the party base.

With 29.5 per cent of the vote, Mrs Clinton was just beaten by former senator Mr Edwards, who won 29.7 per cent. The lawyer's left-wing campaign resonated with working-class Democrats worried about job prospects.

A dejected Mrs Clinton appeared alongside husband Bill to rally supporters, saying: "I am so ready for the rest of this campaign and I am so ready to lead."

She had never expected to lose to Mr Obama, having spent millions on TV adverts and weeks campaigning in the state with her family.

With a few votes left to be counted in the Republican contest, Mr Huckabee took 34.3 per cent to win, despite spending less than £500,000 in the state. Mr Romney, who spent an estimated £3.5 million, was on 25.3 per cent.

The 52-year-old Baptist's victory was attributed to his overwhelming support among evangelical voters and women, and he also played the card of being a Washington outsider. He and Bill Clinton are from the same hometown, Hope in Arkansas, and both are former governors of the southern state. Whether he can carry his appeal into states with less evangelical Christian support is still an open question.

Mr Huckabee said: "One of the lessons we've learned tonight is people are more important than the purse. It wasn't about who raised the most money, but who raised the most hopes and aspirations."

Mr Romney, whose Mormon faith was the subject of much suspicion among Christian voters, said he would fight on. He is expected to do well in New Hampshire, as he is a former governor of Massachusetts.

Mr Obama's bounce will mean his fundraising, already more successful than Mrs Clinton's, can expect a new surge. Mrs Clinton cannot afford to come third in New Hampshire and will launch an all-out fight to be reinstated as the "inevitable" candidate.

Third for Mr Edwards could signal the end of his run for the White House - although his appeal to core Democrat blue-collar voters could win him a place on a vice-presidential ticket.