It may be a bit premature to start singing "Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead," but I was delighted to see Hillary get pummeled in Iowa. Last night we had a visitor from the UK staying with us and when she found out the result, she expressed disappointment and said, "I kind of want to see a female president." The Scottish Lass immediately replied, "So do I, but I want a HUMAN female."
But my joy extended also to Obama's victory. Yes, the Iowa Caucuses are bizarre, often meaningless and hardly the model of democratic process, but it is pretty clear that he has the energy and momentum in this race while Hillary is stuck in neutral. It will be particularly enjoyable watching Hillary meltdown because she pushed so hard to move the primaries early to avoid a bruising nomination fight. Now that she has lost the lead, that strategy looks likely to backfire on her as she has little time to fight the inevitable "Obama the Conqueror" momentum. If he repeats in New Hampshire, I think it is over.
Which is fantastic. I want to believe in Obama. I think he's probably a really great person to hang out with. He is clearly intelligent and thoughtful and I think he has passion. Unfortunately, when you look at his platform, it mostly boils down to using the government to solve all problems. And I have been less than impressed with him when he is asked questions about difficult issues. It is not sufficient to blather on about the "politics of hope" and pretend that disagreement will magically disappear just because an appealing person is President. But there is still time and the general election campaign will shake a lot of this out.
On the Republican side, I don't see Huckabee sustaining his strength in New Hampshire. I think the real winner in Iowa was McCain because Huckabee put such big dagger in Romney's by-the-book campaign. McCain has been quietly surging in New Hampshire and he could breakout with a strong showing there. Rudy is the X Factor.
But the most enjoyable thing about the results from Iowa was looking forward to an Obama-McCain race or an Obama-Giuliani race. It would be such a pleasure, particularly in the latter case, to see two articulate, intelligent candidates debate. Let's hope that such a race happens and can re-invigorate our sclerotic political process. With Iraq fading as an issue, Bush departing and a Democratic Congress with the lowest approval ratings in history (even below Bush's - how incompetent do you need to be to be less liked than Bush??), everything is up for grabs in this election.
7 comments:
I don't think we'll ever agree politically, but we share a loathing of Hillary.
I'd like see to Obama/McCain. I see that as a win/win situation.
Rudy is the dick factor. He's an ass. Worse than Hiallry.
Obama/McCain would be a campaign I would enjoy immensely. McCain is mature enough to poke holes in the messianic Obama myth and Obama is intelligent enough to focus on McCain's status as a part of the exisiting Washington system.
Bring it on.
Can't add much more to agree with what Dave has said here. I think McCain has the balls to make it a great race. While not as down on Rudy as Jackson and others, I don't find him at all presidential.
I still think ole Hill is gonna eek it out though.
Obama vs. McCain is the only matchup that would leave me without a clear cut choice on how to vote. If any other Republican gets nominated I vote Democrat, if McCain goes up against any other Democrat I vote Republican. These two going head to head would be amazing.
Here's a thought:
McCain/Obama '08.
Dunno about McCain/Obama, but I can still see McCain/Lieberman. If Obama starts to run on a "I'm going to pull us out of Iraq ASAP" platform, I could see Lieberman making the jump.
See my blog...
McCain/Lieberman would be a good one.
Let's go back to the old runner up becomes VP and make the MCain/Obama White House a reality. Imagine the parties they'd throw.
May write about this separately, but are you being a bit speciesist by refusing to vote for a non-human candidate, even if they are the most qualified for the job? Although in light of the GWB legacy, I do think non-human primates should be kept off the ballot.
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