Tuesday, January 8, 2008

The Race Is On

I've added delegate counters on my page for the duration of the primary season. I just watched Obama and Clinton speak and heard Romney and McCain speak earlier. 

First of all, the indication is that the dollars Romney poured into his campaign just didn't match McCain's obvious a) integrity and b) retail campaigning skills. As a moderate Democrat, if a Republican had to win this race, I think I'd take McCain (Giuliani is just a little too 911). Giuliani reminds me of a joke from Yellowknife, where I used to live. There are four seasons in Yellowknife. Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Road Construction. I don't know why :)

Obama gave a speech that, if you hadn't seen the first few lines, you'd thought he'd won. The man is a talented orator, and his style and brevity reminds me of another member of Congress from Illinois whose words have been quite immortalized in American history. 

The Clinton "comeback" is not all that surprising, if nothing but from the impact of local media. Clinton's East-coast style and cadence are much less grating to the voters of New Hampshire than to those of Iowa, and I have no doubt that we will continue to see Clinton post good numbers in New England and adjacent states. However, as the race's swing south and too minority-heavy states, Clinton's union campaign will come up against Obama's natural appeal and obvious political talent. 

I think the biggest story that no-one is talking about it the continued depressed turnout of Republican voters. Iowa and New Hampshire are both right-of-center states but the turnouts make it seem like Democrats beat them two-to-one. Here are the fingerprints of the George W. Bush Presidency. His negatives are rubbing off on the party proper. If I was a Republican strategist, I'd be wondering whether I just spent 100's of millions of donor dollars for nothing. 

Speaking of donor dollars, keep an eye on Mississippi's race for the US Senate. Trent Lott's appointed replacement will be going up against a popular former governor, and Chuck Schumer's DSCC has WAY more money than a cash-strapped RSCC. 

OK, enough politics. Back to the city I love :)

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