Iowa and New Hampshire Decision
All of the main stream media is in a buzz and so are all of the candidates running for President. This is the time of the last dash to the finish line and it is not a time for stupid mistakes by anyone associated with any campaign. Iowa and New Hampshire can pull any single campaign up out of the dust and propel them into super stardom in the next week. Mistakes, errors in judgment, or even a comment taken off the record could kill a campaign.
One thing that is certain in this election is that the people of Iowa and New Hampshire will get a better look at any of the candidates than you and I could ever dream of. Being able to size the candidates up by actually meeting them one on one is the best possible way to cast a vote for the most powerful office in the world. Somehow the actual person in the same room with you and being able to actually interact with them is by far a better way to form an opinion on their ability to serve as President of the United States. Personal chemistry is funny like that.
The next obvious question is if we should trust Iowans or the good folks of New Hampshire with this process of vetting our next political parties choice for President? Peggy Noonan is somewhat asking that same question over at WSJ Opinion Journal…
Be Reasonable
As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I.Friday, December 28, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
By next week politically active Iowans will have met and tallied their votes. Their decision this year will have a huge impact on the 2008 election, and a decisive impact on various candidacies. Some will be done in. Some will be made. Some will land just right or wrong and wake up the next day to read raves or obits. A week after that, New Hampshire. The endless campaign is in fact nearing its climax.But all eyes are on Iowa. Iowans bear a heck of a lot of responsibility this year, the first time since 1952 when there is no incumbent president or vice president in the race. All of it is wide open.
Iowa can make Obama real. It can make Hillary yesterday. It can make Huckabee a phenom and not a flash, McCain the future and not the past. Moments like this happen in history. They’re the reason we get up in the morning. “What happened?” “Who won?”
This is my 2008 slogan: Reasonable Person for President. That is my hope, what I ask Iowa to produce, and I claim here to speak for thousands, millions. We are grown-ups, we know our country needs greatness, but we do not expect it and will settle at the moment for good. We just want a reasonable person. We would like a candidate who does not appear to be obviously insane. We’d like knowledge, judgment, a prudent understanding of the world and of the ways and histories of the men and women in it. - Opinion Journal
Putting our faith in the folks living in Iowa and New Hampshire is not the issue. We live in a world of bombardment news and advertisers that simply cash the checks from the political campaigns. Iowans I’m sure are sick to death of the non stop political ads as much as the people of New Hampshire are. And in that respect the advertisement are not the candidates.
We should be thankful that our election process is not full of the blood boiling hate that is found in some parts of the world. Places where a candidate is shot at and a suicide bomber detonates his opinion maker that kills the candidate as well as anyone in close proximity. My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Her candidacy could have had a huge impact on the much needed changes in that part of the world if she were elected.
If elected is a key point for all of the candidates running here in America as well. America needs substance in our next President and not someone that gives a great speech. We need someone that knows the world issues just as well as they know the street map of our nations capitol. They will need to know how to drive from the White House over to the House to get the job done as it should be done. Selling ideas is not about who can stand the firmest on their soap box, its about who is willing to move that soap box over to the folks that will listen and actually think about your ideas, be convinced about your ideas, and vote for them. That has been the mistake of the house of Bush and the house of Clinton.
One of things mentioned to me over and over again is the thought that our nation has been taken over by two families for more than two decades. Starting with Papa Bush with one term of four years and then moving on to Bill Clinton and eight years, followed by Junior W Bush with another eight years. Can America truly survive if ruled by two families for close to thirty years if Hillary Clinton is elected President and possibly serves two terms?
So what are the choices facing the people of Iowa and New Hampshire?
From the Democrats, something isn’t right about Hillary and her having Billy take over her campaign. It screams of “I’m not really doing this, Bill is!” but I could be wrong. Then again, if she could not keep an eye on what his sexual tensions were as first lady then what the hell is she going to do as President. I don’t think we need the FBI to be renamed FBB or FIND BILL’s BABES. Enough with the Clinton legacy of endless political scandals.
Barack Obama, probably a nice guy. Most likely one of the most highly educated people in the run for President but being book smart does not always make you common sense smart. During every single debate he was slapped down by people that actually know about world events on the same stage. Vice President, hell yes! President, not this go round.
John Edwards… No! Your wife is dying of cancer and you have something better to do? God bless his wife Elizabeth for letting him go out and play while she is facing her last days. The character of a man is shown on how he treats his wife no matter her wishes. If he bowed out of this race, in four years he would have a solid chance at the Presidency because he bowed out simply to care for the love of his life, his wife. Huge family values bump.
Meat and Potatoes of this election is in Joe Biden’s campaign. He isn’t running on dollars from the political elite contributors in the Democrat Party. He’s running on the same gas as Ron Paul. Grass roots and people to people. He isn’t counting on anyone in the media to support him because he is not sending them all checks to cash. He has however criss crossed all of Iowa to talk to the people one on one. One of things I like about Joe Biden is that he is not owned by any special interest group. His personal wealth of knowledge on anything happening here at home or abroad is not delegated to a staffer on what he should say, he just speaks his mind. That is the best you could ever get. When it comes to crossing party lines, if it is right then Joe is Right! That fact is something that will sell come the general election come next November that will be the deciding factor. No other candidate can do what he does and win the Oval Office in the Democrat Party.
But I’m sure that the people of Iowa and New Hampshire already know that simply because they have met Joe Biden one on one all across their states.
Do not be surprised if the good people of Iowa and New Hampshire vote for substance over spin. I have faith that they will vote for a realistic choice for President.
As for the Republicans, umm, over at the Gun Toting Liberal he has this latest melt down from the Giuliani campaign. Crooks and Liars has it too… Muslims are bad people? I didn’t say it the Giuliani camp did!
Papamoka
Originally posted at Papamoka Straight Talk
December 29th, 2007 at 11:18 am
[…] Thanks to my good friend Matthew O’Keefe of Papamoka Straight Talk for linking in (X-Posted to our “sister blog”, Bring It On!)… […]
December 29th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
mat.. i have followed this thing rather closely and agree Biden is the most qualified on either side based on the issues, experience, and knowledge. So far i have not seen anything that connects him to the cabal which currently runs this country. The only criticism i have really heard is that he talks too much. However, if you listen the talking comes from considerable knowledge and information about our world and generally occurs when in committee meeting where verbose republicans are attempting to dominate the discussion. Unfortunately i don’t believe Joe will be around after New Hampshire. The system is rigged. Money is unfortunately the dominate factor.
December 29th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Bring It on is a “she blog” who knew…
I hope Obama wins… I think he is real change.
December 29th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
If the Dems are smart, they’ll put up Edwards. If the GOP is smart, they’ll put up Huckabee.
Let’s see how smart these folks really are - because if Iowans are just drunk on my ethanol subsidies and go establishment, I’ll may have to vote for friggin’ Bugs Bunny come next November.
JMJ
December 29th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Obama can’t win the nationals, Steve. You know that.
JMJ
December 29th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I disagree Jersey… Rolling Oprah out there was smart… If she says something it comes off differently than Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson… I think he is going to smite Hillary…
If the Republicans run a weakling…(Huckabee) I gotta look strongly at Obama…
December 29th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
steve.. your last comment is exactly what my republican friends are saying. But, i know damn well they will never vote for a democrat, especially if he is a black man. However, at this point i believe you are going to get a chance to vote for a women. how do you feel about that. Hillary now has twice as many on the ground workers in Iowa as the other candidates and Obama has allowed his strategist to spend his money on TV. Edwards might surprise everyone and win Iowa, but where he goes from there is not known. so who you gonna vote for if its Hillary and Huckleberry?
December 30th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Thank you Rube. I smell the bait ‘n switch. Republican voters know damned well that a black man named Barack can not win the nationals. It’s a sad, pathetic fact, but a fact it is. On the other hand, Huckabee scares the hell out of establishment GOPers because they’re afraid that his genuine Christianity (unlike the fake Christianity we’ve gotten from the Bush-types) will make him somewhat liberal and anticorporatist. When Huckbee says “Club for Greed” the GOPers start sweating bullets.
I don’t believe Steve at all here.
JMJ
December 30th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
It is not much of a principle to vote for whoever can win. If you realy believe in what a candidate is saying than you should vote for him/her. Nothing will ever change if you base your vote on who can win.
December 30th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Jersey if a Black man can’t win the nationals it’s because the democrats aren’t voting for him. Kind of ironic don’t you think?
December 30th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
That is the most racist statement I have ever heard Lisa! Life is nice in your all white community isn’t it? As for what Jersey said he is right but it isn’t a political institution that will not elect an African American to the White House it is biggotry and ignorance.
God forbid that a black man with an education level far and beyond ninety nine percent of the poplulation just might have a chance at the Oval Office.
Befriend a person of color and you will see that they are not the enemy as the the Republicans care to see. Just as the Irish came up in the world as the unclean and not worthy the African Americans are working the system of politics as it should be done and Barack Obama is one of the best of the crew just as John F. Kennedy was for the Irish.
I normally do not comment on my post’s because I have already spoken my peace. Don’t lable an entire political party racist from your rose colored glasses perspective.
December 30th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Oh and Jersey’s comments aren’t racist saying that a Republican won’t vote for a black. Fuck all you self righteous bastards if you think that!
December 31st, 2007 at 6:16 am
steve,
Technically, it’s not racist. He is saying Republicans are racist, which is untrue and highly offensive as the ones I know generally aren’t, but that isn’t in itself racist. Unless you want to claim that being a Republican makes you a different race from everyone else and thus a persecuted minority?
December 31st, 2007 at 8:46 am
“That is the most racist statement I have ever heard Lisa! Life is nice in your all white community isn’t it? As for what Jersey said he is right but it isn’t a political institution that will not elect an African ”
First of all Mat if I lived in an all white community like most of you probably do then sure I would want everything for minorities like all the rich liberals do as long as it isn’t in my neighborhood.. As a matter of fact I was a minority where I used to live. How many times did you have to pull you children out of school because of a stabbing or gang violence or is everything rosie in your neck of the woods?
Go ahead and label that statement racist but the fact is that the dems are the ones that won’t nominate a black man.
December 31st, 2007 at 10:08 am
Oh and another thing I had a very good friend who was black she since passed and lived with us with her daughter for almost a year when they had no where to go.
January 1st, 2008 at 8:56 am
It’s not so much that Obama is black - it’s that he’s a black democrat named Obama. If he was a black republican named Colin he’d probably stand a better chance. Hillary is in a similar position. It’s not that she’s a woman - it’s that she’s a democrat woman who has been unfairly and dishonestly tarred as corrupt “liberal” by the rightwing sleaze machine. If she was a republicn woman name Margaret, she could win. But if anyone here doesn’t think that rightwingers aren’t generally more racist and misgynist than leftwingers, they are retarded.
JMJ
January 1st, 2008 at 8:57 am
Oh, and Lisa and Steve, your personalized reaction to my comments makes you seem very insecure about yourselves. Did I push a bad button there? LOL!
JMJ
January 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Not really Jersey… I am as black as Bill Clinton.
As far as Hillary:
“It’s not that she’s a woman - it’s that she’s a democrat woman who has been unfairly and dishonestly tarred as corrupt “liberal” by the rightwing sleaze machine.”
Um.. where do I begin? Vince Foster? Whitewater? Travelgate? Filegate? The list goes on Jersey and it wasn’t the right wing media that pulled that out. If she were a Republican we still would have heard it all.
And um… why did this woman stay with Bill with all of his infidelity? Because she needed the boost to be President since she didn’t have the credentials on her own? The woman is a power tripper and sorry for the Democrats if they nominate her.
Obama is the best horse in the field if they have a chance on winning. That’s my opinion though. I’d consider voting for the guy come November.
January 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Jersey it’s not that Obama is black democrat or Hillary is a woman democrat,it’s that they are democrat. If you are a democrat voter then it shouldn’t matter what color or gender the party of acceptance votes for now should it? Sounds like you are making excuses for them.
Oh poor Hillary. I guess it’s not okay to ask her the tough questions as Tim Russert will vouch for. Walking away with his tail between his legs after getting reprimanded by Bill.
January 1st, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Face it Jersey… You just hate us. Accept it and move on.
January 1st, 2008 at 1:26 pm
“Vince Foster? Whitewater? Travelgate? Filegate?”
That’s all PIDDLY DIDDLY FAGGOT LITTLE BULLSHIT compared to what your guys have been up to.
“Obama is the best horse in the field if they have a chance on winning. That’s my opinion though.”
I don’t believe you and I don’t believe that’s your opinion.
“Jersey it’s not that Obama is black democrat or Hillary is a woman democrat,it’ s that they are democrat.”
No. It’s the combinations. I believe you and Steve, for some oddball reason, simply can’t realize that.
And I don’t hate you or Lisa, Steve. Don’t be silly. If I hated you, I wouldn’t blog with you, and I’d come right out and say that I don’t like you. I have never done that, and I have no reason to do so. We are arguing politics, not personalities. That’s why you shouldn’t take things so personally. I don’t have the time and patience to specify everything that I write and neither do you. I put up the political - not personal - argument and let it fly. It’s not personally aimed at you.
JMJ
January 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Aww shucks Jersey! XXXOOO
January 1st, 2008 at 2:58 pm
GROUP HUG!!! lol
January 1st, 2008 at 3:33 pm
LOL!!!
I think Lisa can vouch for my seriousness regarding Obama. I like the guy. Honestly!! I am a Republican that likes Obama. I would like him has President. I like Guiliani, McCain and Thompson very much too. And of course I am going to vote for those guys if I have the opportunity… But if it comes down to a two horse race and Obama is clearly outshining my Republicans… I gotta punch his chad. Seriously. It’s okay to like more than one person and from multiple parties this election.
I voted for Bill in 1992, though I was a stupid 18 year old. I vote for Feinstein every time she is up. I vote for Democrats… is it that shocking to you Jersey?
I have talked about Obama at length on my own blog. But none of you read it so what’s the point at pimping it. I just write about pain and suffering anyway.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Yes Steve does like Obama. I like him too. And I too voted for Bill in 1992 and 1996 so there. But then I saw the light and found Christ.