Monday, November 12, 2007

1984

Not the novel but the present government's penchant for newspeake is scary.

No, the Democratic race for the Presidential nomination is reminding me of the race between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale in 1984. Hillary Clinton is probably the only candidate on either side that could lose Iowa and New Hampshire and still win the nomination. She has all the interest groups, the insider endorsements and a ton of money although Obama is keeping pace in fundraising. February 5th is looking to be day the nomination will be decided with almost 2000 delegates up for grabs in 20 states and that's Hillary's firewall because she can run a national campaign just like Mondale did in 84. The "Where's the beef?" question will come up again and remember that helped Mondale win Alabama and other states that don't vote for the Democrat in a general election anyway but help decide the nomination. The difference this time is I think Barrack Obama has the beef and is ready to smack back at Clinton when she says he is not ready to be President. He did a great job on Meet the Press on Sunday and wowed the crowd at the Iowa Democratic dinner.

What I'm hoping for on both side is that the front runners falter in the early states and Tsunami Tuesday gives a mixed result thus setting up the Pennsylvania primary on April 22 as the deciding contest.

I'm not ready to endorse a candidate for President but I'm really getting to like this guy:


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama is having a bit of a surge now, and that can only be good for Hillary in the long run. Better to have a nominee that had to at least struggle somewhat for the prize than one who knows no scars from the race. With Giuliani about to implode (via the upcoming Kerek trial and Robinson's endorsement, which no doubt turned off many in the religious right), it looks as if Romney (who as of now has a strong hold on New Hampshire) will be the GOP nominee. I find it difficult to see the religious right NOT feeling disenfranchised by this development (should it occur). I realize that people fear that a Hillary nomination will drive them to the polls, but does anyone really see deep south christian voters coming out in droves to vote for a former Massacussetts governor born in Michigan?? We'll have to wait and see but His Holiness declares the '08 race as Hillary's to lose. Let's hope she keeps her balls and fights.

Danny Bauder said...

While I agree with His Holiness about Hillary's tenacity, I'm still very uncomfortable with her presidency because of her closeness to Rupert Murdoch. Not to mention, a Clinton nominee allows the republican candidate to be the candidate of change and anti-establishment.

I've been a pretty staunch Edwards supporter since last year, even doing some events for him over the summer, but Obama is my definite second choice. I think Edwards is the best on the issues of the "big 3" but when it comes to electablity I think we all need to give Barack a good look.

Anonymous said...

In a perfect and just world Obama would become our next President. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that he is African American and has the ironic misfortune of being marked with the middle name of Hussein. This is the proverbial "elephant in the room" situation, as far as His Holiness is concerned. May I point out that given the situation on the Democratic side that we are now facing, Barak's name is not even mentioned as a possible running mate for Hillary (should she be nominated). Maybe I hold no faith in the fairness of middle America, but I can only surmise that the reason for this omission is his race. In a strange way I can come to understand the situation as in the last election we were faced with a much more qualified candidate for President who some (enough to swing the election) Americans actually believe that he wounded himself in Vietnam to get out of the war. Imagine what the Republican fiction writers could do with a Barak nomination--on either slot of the ticket.