Thursday, January 3, 2008

Not That Kind of Jazz

I'm jazzed (and apparently an 80-year-old woman) about tonight's results. Let's put it this way. Obama kicked ass...great! Young, dynamic, black, with a kick-ass wife. Makes the spirit soar when you hear him speak. Edwards did well. I'm a little annoyed that I have to keep hearing how this ends his campaign. Let's hold on there Charlie, we got another one of these babies in 5 days. He was the second choice of a lot of people and a lot of also-rans just freed up some votes. We had three candidates do well. I could vote for anyone of them (okay, Hillary is not a favorite and has some serious problems, but I will end up being "excited" about electing a woman for the first time, especially since I don't see the Republican'ts being able to resist attacking her for being a woman).

On the other side of the aisle you have a party in complete disarray. The Republicans of Iowa have spoken and they prefer Mike Huckabee! Now, at one point they preferred Pat Robertson to George Bush, so they don't really count, but still. Romney looks damaged and unliked. Giuliani seems to be fading, Thompson will drop out, and the MSM have to resort to pretending like a 4th-place, 12% finish for Johnny Walnuts is some kind of victory. What I love most is that the Huck is leading in NH (my bad, must have been the peanut newer talking) and should be very strong in South Carolina. Is it possible that he could come out of Super Tuesday as the delegate leader? Can he get some momentum? Oh sweet Jesus, he's on Larry king talking about how his issues are those that the American people are talking about and, I am not making this, "I think the Republican party got it's groove back." Yes, the Republican party's groove is creationism and locking up abortion doctors. This guy did not get Lee Atwater's memos.

An awesome night indeed!

9 comments:

dr said...

You're right about Edwards. If there's a campaign in trouble, it's Clinton's.

wobblie said...

Huck is leading in New Hampshire? All the polls I've seen have him around 10%, with McCain and Romney neck-and-neck for the lead. NH isn't exactly known to be fundie-central. Have you seen some polling that I haven't? (Here's what I've been looking at, FWIW - you'll see the on-line trading options don't give him much stock, either). South Carolina is going to be ugly for the Rs.

Agreed that Edwards did well, but I just don't see where he makes up ground. He's well behind in NH, SC, and NV, and isn't on the ballot in Michigan. I hope he stays in just to keep hammering on the social democratic agenda, but I think for all intents and purposes, the not-Hillary candidate has been crowned.

wobblie said...

Hillary's still got big leads in NV, CA, FL, and NY, and she's the only one on the ballot in MI. Those races will start to tighten, but like I said, I just don't see where Edwards draws support from to remain viable.

wobblie said...

Pardon me - only one campaigning in MI.

dave3544 said...

Wobs--

Are you just reading from an AFT-provided "Convincing Your Friends Hillary Will Win" sheet or what?

As far as Huck goes, I corrected my mistake in the post, but would like to remind you that only one vote counts and it belongs to the Lord.

wobblie said...

No, I was just spouting off the most recent polls I've read. I definitely think Hillary came out damaged, but I'm not writing her off just yet, and I definitely don't see the contest coming down to between Obama and Edwards. That was my point.

The organization has yet to provide me with my "Hillary will still win" talking points yet. I'll be sure to let you know what they are when they come out. But for now, I'm going to keep talking out of school and say that the sheen of inevitability is off - and that's a good thing.

dr said...

Five days is a long time. We'll see how Iowa gets spun. The talking point that seemed to be taking hold last night was that Obama's victory undermined the rationale for Clinton's campaign because it gave him experience.

A nutty line of thought, yes, but if that's what everybody says for a week, then Clinton goes down in NH and SC, well...

Edwards, in the meantime, could rack up a strong second in SC and a credible third in NH and look like a real candidate. 'cause he's not the front runner.

The NRO line, for what it's worth, is that Edwards is done because Obama has co-opted his message but without the hate.

dave3544 said...

Everybody is selling the Edwards is done line. Post-modern Dave would tell you that once the construct is constructed, it becomes reality.

lex dexter said...

Obama had one of his good nights again. Between going to see him and watching hours of CSPAN, I've heard at least six variations on that speech. But this was the best since the Jefferson Jackson dinner that began his rise in Iowa.

I wouldn't say that Edwards stands a chance to win, but if I were Obama I would want him to stay in the race until just before super Tuesday. One think we know now is that Edwards is the best at handcuffing Hillary in the debates.

This is some special shit we have happening. But I'll be a lot more comfortable after a NH victory. An endorsement from the NV restaurant workers sure would help, too.