Thursday, January 03, 2008

Iowa in The Spot Light

Thankfully, tonight will see the end of the relentless campaigning in the poor state of Iowa. I can imagine Iowans are weary of all the media, hoopla and intrusions by Barak, Hillary, Mitt, John, Mike, Rudy, et al. Tonight, good Iowans, mostly the same ones who did so last time, will meet and decide who gets the delegates to next year's Presidential nominating convention.

I guess in this case it is good to be first, Iowa sure gets a lot of attention, but is it really worth all the fuss? I heard that most candidates spend $200 per eligible voter in Iowa, far more than anyplace else. Money wasted? Something like 5% of eligible voters come out to the caucuses. Most find out it is a drawn out affair, lasting 2 hours and not all that exciting. It is not like going to the poll and casting a vote in 10 minutes. This keeps the participants down to a few diehards and party regulars. The novices, it has been reported, find the process tedious and tend to stay away. Younger "gotta have it now" types just don't make the effort.

With the White House wide open, this year's caucus is even more hyped. The winner comes away broke but with momentum. Frequently that propels them into the nomination. Just as frequently it does not. 2004 boosted John Kerry who went on to win the nomination and then to be robbed of a win by another Bush coup. It spelled the end of Howard Dean and some other minor candidates. With Bush as President, the Republican caucuses were non events.

Could we get a surprise tonight? Will Iowans go for John Edwards as kind of an anti-Hillary, anti-Obama? Will the fundies propel Mike Huckabee forward? What about Rudy?

To me, anyone, that is besides Huckabee and Romney would be better than the blathering idiot Emperor we are saddled with now. I do not see much of a surprise tonight, I can imagine Huckabee will be a hit with the conservatives that tend to get out on these things. I suspect Obama will win the Democrats with Edwards surprising Hillary.

Who do I support? Not telling. Besides, I don't live in Iowa.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, looking back, you called this one perfect. The one I always want always loses or drops out. I love what Edwards says, but hate that twang-ass delivery. Hillary is definitely battle-tested, but why oh why did she vote for this insane war? Obama? I don't get him, as in, what's the attraction.

I want honesty, specifics, not another vague "plan." Besides, the next prez will need 12 years to undo what the current chimp has done to the country, the constitution, the courts, and the economy. Oy.