INSTANT VIEW: Obama, Huckabee win Iowa contests

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama won the contests for their parties' nominations in Iowa on Thursday, the first of state-by-state votes to decide candidates for the 2008 U.S. presidential election, U.S. media reported.

Following is some reaction:

CHARLES BIDERMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF TRIM TABS INVESTMENT

RESEARCH IN SANTA ROSA, CALIF.

"I don't think Wall Street knows his (Huckabee's) economic platform. The scary thing about it for me is that he seems like a right-wing populist. I'm not sure what his economic platform is and who his economic supporters. We know who's backing Hillary (Clinton) and who is backing (Rudy) Giuliani. Huckabee is an unknown. I don't think he's electable.

RICHARD STEINBERG, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

OF STEINBERG GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD, IN BOCA RATON,

FLORIDA

"Huckabee's a sideshow. He plays well in Iowa, he will not play well in the rest of the country. This is his 15 minutes of fame. If that's the Republican's best candidate, the Republicans are in trouble. I think Wall Street is still banking on Hillary, Giuliani."

DONNA BRAZILE, TOP POLITICAL STRATEGIST FOR AL GORE IN 2000

"She (Hillary Clinton) must change her message. She has to be more in sync with what voters want. They want change."

"I don't count Sen. Clinton out of this race because she has strong institutional support in New Hampshire."

"She still has a great deal of resources she can bring to bear in some of those early states. This is still a very tough fight for Obama as we look down the road."

JIM HARDESTY, PRESIDENT OF HARDESTY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN

BALTIMORE

ON OBAMA: