Nell & Rex Boyd

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"Nell Boyd lives in the tiny northern Iowa town of Belmond. From the moment she saw Barack Obama speak in October in nearby Waterloo, she said, she was sold on his candidacy and made a small contribution to his campaign, the first time she had ever given money to a politician.

"At her precinct last night, 214 people signed in, compared to 72 four years ago.

"The crowd, she said, was a mix of old and young, with a sprinkling of college students home on break and high school students who will be 18 by Election Day. In the end, the tally concluded in this order: Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards.

"The Boyd household, perhaps, is atypical. She supported Obama, while her husband, Rex, walked into the caucus as a Clinton supporter. Before the final headcount was conducted, she said, he changed his mind and moved over to the Obama corner of the room.

"In an overnight e-mail, she offered an explanation.

"Rex went to Clinton and I wore a Obama sticker. As people milled and talked, he changed before the count as he heard people stating they could not vote for someone with a last name like Obama. One said, `He needs to stay in Chicago and take care of his family.'

"Rex came over to Obama, where he heard not one negative bit of talk. He felt they both stand for pretty much the same ideas, but our leader needs to be positive and Obama puts that feeling out there. That is important in this world." -- from a 1.4.08 Jeff Zeleny piece in the N.Y. Times.