For anyone with even a remotely legitimate interest in yesterday's historic Iowa caucus, we refer you to our Beltway brothers' coverage over at Wonkette. We, on the other hand, are purely fixated on how the celebrity factor figures into Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee being handed such landslide mandates for change from voters in the corn-shucking state. Huckabee's acceptance speech--capped by a funky improvisational jazz bass performance loosely inspired by the Barney Miller theme--was greeted by longtime kung-fu sparring companion Chuck Norris, hovering over his shoulder with the kind of warmly proud look one typically associates with future First Ladies. The Democratic side, meanwhile, benefited from a far bustier and less hirsute celebrity endorsement:

23-year-old Scarlett Johansson was by Obama's side in the home stretch, speaking to a small group of high school and college-aged "Barack Stars" at a rally in Coralville, Iowa, on Tuesday.

"She actually seemed a little shy when she first started speaking," audience member Jason Millsap told PEOPLE. "But [she] warmed up to the crowd, who were eager to ask questions. . . . It was pretty exciting and inspiration to see someone as big as her come and talk to her peers."

"She was asked a question as to why she chose to support Obama and answered it very well in my opinion," added high schooler Peter Caroll, another caucus-goer. "She [explained] how she did research him and found Obama to be [passionate about] most of the issues she deemed important."

We're thrilled to hear that informed-voter Johansson managed to find her political sea-legs after a slightly tentative start, as the star of The Nanny Diaries has made no secret of being entirely energised by this "exciting time for youth culture." In light of her candidate's thrilling victory, and the great strides being made to mobilize young voters through her grassroots, cleavage-based initiative, Scarlett Johansson's Bazooms for Change, the United States might very well have its first African American President in 2008.

• Scarlett Johansson and Chuck Norris: Political Power Players? [People]

Tags: barack obama | chuck norris | mike huckabee | politics | scarlett johansson