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| WaPo | Obama Urges Groups to Stop Attacks [on Dems who oppose ObamaCare] |
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Audacity of Truth
"Change" You Can Believe In:
"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn't control (the media). They didn’t try. [...] What the hell do they think we are, puppets?"
- Liberal opinion writer Helen Thomas, describing the Obama admin's penchant for heavily scripting public appearances & press conferences - 7/1/09
The Des Moines Register and Boston Globe issue their caucus/primary endorsements (MORE: NH UNION LEADER ENDORSES MCCAIN)
Jules Crittenden has a rundown of the endorsements. In short, the Register endorsed Hillary and McCain, and the Globe endorsed Obama and McCain.
Probably the biggest surprise, as Captain Ed correctly points out, was the Register’s endorsement of McCain, as McCain hasn’t endeared himself to Iowa Republicans this campaign season. And let’s not forget that he ignored Iowa in 2000. In endorsing him, the Register cited McCain’s experience as a war veteran, POW, and longtime public servant who has shown a willingness to compromise with Democrats as key factors. That last bit, as well as his stances on illegal immigration and campaign finance reform, will doom him to lose not only Iowa but on Super Tuesday as well, in my opinion. Having an ability to compromise doesn’t lend itself to support amongst partisan primary voters, who are looking for someone who will represent their ideals in the national election, not compromise on them.
Brian at Liberty Pundit wrote a piece for Pajamas Media in which he predicts Obama/Huckabee wins in their respective caucuses. Assuming he’s correct, what will that mean for the candidates going into New Hampshire and beyond? Winning the Iowa caucus isn’t an automatic ticket to the nomination. As the Register noted in this piece, since 1972, “the eventual nominee of each party has been among the top three finishers in Iowa.” (emphasis mine)
We shall see.
4:05 PM Update: The Politico is reporting that – per anonymous GOP sources – Senator Joe Lieberman will endorse Senator McCain Monday. The Weekly Standard is reporting the same news.
4:56 PM Update: The NH Union Leader has endorsed John McCain.
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That’s a good question. New Hampshire is too close after Iowa for a candidate with no momentum there to use Iowa as a momentum-builder, or to kill previously-built-up momentum. It also is too far away from Super-Duper Tuesday (SDT) for anybody to hold momentum without anything intervening (like Florida’s primary).
I’ll take the Democrats first, because it’s easier. Barack Obama is building serious momentum through all of the Democratic early states, so he will have momentum going into SDT. He also has the benefit (at least on that end of the aisle) of not being the early-frontrunner. The only thing that would work against him is the Dems also historically don’t particularily like the person that wins Iowa.
On the Republican side, it’s a bit more interesting. Mike Huckabee has no momentum in New Hampshire, and his Huck-A-Boom hasn’t changed that as of yet. New Hampshire should still be very safe for Mitt Romney, but his strategy of using a sweep of the traditionally-early 3 (Iowa, NH, South Carolina) is undeniably in shambles.
If Rasmussen’s latest Florida numbers are an outlier, that bodes very well for Rudy Giuliani. His strategy has always been use Florida as a jumping-off point to seize the big, liberal states of SDT and kill any momentum that Romney or anybody else gets from the early 3. If, however, they aren’t, it will get very exciting as Huckabee will have the delegate lead and the momentum going into SDT.
That having been said, I believe the Huck-A-Boom will become the Huck-A-Bomb before January. The question will become who gets that benefit. If it’s Romney, we’re back at square one of early states versus the SDT states. If, however, it’s Fred Thompson, it’s yet another new ballgame. Thompson’s support, much like his campaign, has come from the later-voting states (like Wisconsin; in an admittedly-small sample taken at the end of November, he held a 5-point lead over Giuliani).
Hope you are feeling better, ST….
Here is an excellent article by Ken Conner about Huckabee and the MSM. I believe that one of the forces behind Huckabee’s rise in the polls is a reaction among some Republicans against the Christophobia of MSM outlets like USA Today.
To be honest, I am sympathetic to the views of Huckabee supporters. The MSM’s bigotry towards Christians – especially conservative evangelicals – is both well documented and legendary. I grew up in the South, and the irrational attitude of many MSM journalists bears an uncanny resemblance to the anti-black and anti-Jew sentiments that I sometimes heard from friends and neighbors in my youth. Indeed – with only a light amount of editing (often something simple such as changing “conservative Christian” to “Negro”), one would think that most of the nation’s major newspapers were run by the KKK. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that most MSM editors and journalists see rampaging Christianist theocrats under every bed. Under those circumstances it is tempting to vote for Huckabee as a show of solidarity with a brother in Christ against those who hate the mere mention of the Savior’s name.
However, MSM bigotry does not make the case for Huckabee. His record as governor shows an alarming propensity towards using failed government social programs to deal with societal ills. Worse, his statements clearly indicate to me that he has put little or no thought into fighting terrorism or dealing with rogue nations like Iran or North Korea. One minute he seems to channel Ronald Reagan, and the next Dennis Kucinich. Does the GOP really need another isolationist wacko like Ron Paul running for president?
Would I vote for Huckabee if he wins the nomination? I would have to answer a reluctant “yes”, although I get the feeling that if he keeps doing his Jimmy Carter impression I will have to put him in the John McCain/Ron Paul never-in-a-bazillion-years category. Huckabee reminds me of Bush without the strong foreign policy credentials, ahat is an awful position for the GOP nominee to be in.
Oh look! Both papers endorsed Democrats for both party’s nominations!
Sev,
The DMRegister is stocked with moonbat liberals. I’m not surprised at them endorsing a Megalomaniac and a RINO for President.
Any Republican who reads the D.M. Register will do just the opposite of what it claims. (actually, no republicans read that rag). I think McCain just had his Iowa hopes crushed. If he had any in the first place. I hope Huckabee campaign dies a gentle death. He was my pick early on. But his immigration and soft crime position just scare me. He is too nice. The world would eat him whole. The conservatives best hope is Thompson. Don’t count him out even at this late date in Iowa. He has the message.
Jim, I’m seeing a move towards Fred by the bloggers, and hope that is representative of the GOP caucus goers.
With the race tight enough over at the Democrats, I don’t anticipate the usual flood of Democrats trying to pick who they want to face from the GOP this year.