Session Ends!
In the wee hours of the night last evening, I finally got cut loose from the busiest period of the year at work. Gone for eight months ahead are the long nights and 74-hour workweeks like I suffered through this week. Thankfully, the timing worked out well this year, as my reprieve comes just as spring is in full bloom here in central Iowa and as potential romantic prospects rise (or re-rise) to the surface.
Given my manic schedule this week, I didn't get much time to assess last week's first Democratic Presidential candidate debate in South Carolina. I managed to catch about a half hour of post-debate analysis on MSNBC that evening (Thursday?) and the universal opinion was that Hillary Clinton shined while John Edwards and especially Barack Obama floundered. Imagine my surprise the next day when tracking polls indicated the public thought Obama won the debate by an eight-point margin. Once again, MSNBC's Hillary Clinton infatuation plods onward even as the public continues to cringe when they hear her speak. Obama and Edwards are piling on potential setbacks to their candidacies with their personal choices and campaign gaffes, but I remain convinced that they are the only two with a chance to win a national election if the other top-tier candidate Hillary Clinton. I used to believe Hillary could beat Giuliani (who would either keep social conservatives at home on election day or direct them to a right-wing third party), but I'm no longer convinced that Hillary could even beat Giuliani among swing voters. I've been wrong before, as I was with last year's Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who I also believed couldn't win. But Sherrod Brown's flaws as a candidate in Ohio seem like small potatoes compared to Hillary Clinton's flaws nationwide.
But back to the debate, what I've heard and seen about John Edwards' performance is nothing short of disastrous. Mainstream analysis suggests the $400 haircut has him reeling in the same way that the Swift Boat madness sidelined Kerry's message for weeks...and with many voters, permanently. Bill Richardson is by no means out of this race given his reasonable fundraising numbers and impressive resume, but the footage I saw from him at the debate tells me he needs to polish up quite a bit to rise above the Clinton-Obama media juggernaut. Joe Biden, long considered dead on arrival in this contest, got good marks for his performance, but still faces a long road towards credibility after previous gaffes.
I'm still far from engaged in this 2008 Presidential contest and can only generate a moderate buzz about upcoming Senate and House races, but am at least looking forward to having more time for tracking the races. If history is any indication, I'll be riding high about politics once again when summer turns to fall....and that fall election season is in the air (even on a non-election year).
Given my manic schedule this week, I didn't get much time to assess last week's first Democratic Presidential candidate debate in South Carolina. I managed to catch about a half hour of post-debate analysis on MSNBC that evening (Thursday?) and the universal opinion was that Hillary Clinton shined while John Edwards and especially Barack Obama floundered. Imagine my surprise the next day when tracking polls indicated the public thought Obama won the debate by an eight-point margin. Once again, MSNBC's Hillary Clinton infatuation plods onward even as the public continues to cringe when they hear her speak. Obama and Edwards are piling on potential setbacks to their candidacies with their personal choices and campaign gaffes, but I remain convinced that they are the only two with a chance to win a national election if the other top-tier candidate Hillary Clinton. I used to believe Hillary could beat Giuliani (who would either keep social conservatives at home on election day or direct them to a right-wing third party), but I'm no longer convinced that Hillary could even beat Giuliani among swing voters. I've been wrong before, as I was with last year's Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who I also believed couldn't win. But Sherrod Brown's flaws as a candidate in Ohio seem like small potatoes compared to Hillary Clinton's flaws nationwide.
But back to the debate, what I've heard and seen about John Edwards' performance is nothing short of disastrous. Mainstream analysis suggests the $400 haircut has him reeling in the same way that the Swift Boat madness sidelined Kerry's message for weeks...and with many voters, permanently. Bill Richardson is by no means out of this race given his reasonable fundraising numbers and impressive resume, but the footage I saw from him at the debate tells me he needs to polish up quite a bit to rise above the Clinton-Obama media juggernaut. Joe Biden, long considered dead on arrival in this contest, got good marks for his performance, but still faces a long road towards credibility after previous gaffes.
I'm still far from engaged in this 2008 Presidential contest and can only generate a moderate buzz about upcoming Senate and House races, but am at least looking forward to having more time for tracking the races. If history is any indication, I'll be riding high about politics once again when summer turns to fall....and that fall election season is in the air (even on a non-election year).
posted by Mark at 8:50 AM
2 Comments:
Richardson wasn't as confident as we over at AmericaForRichardson.org had wished, but the most important thing IMHO is that many more people got exposed to Bill and heard his views. He didn't make any major mistakes and, while he was not his usual charming and likable self, he showed that he has the experience and knowledge to be a serious candidate. As Bill gains more comfort and confidence in debate settings, I have no doubt that he will begin to shine, as we know he can.
PS: I just bought his book "Between Worlds" and am really enjoying it.
Sara, you'll be happy to know that Richardson is the first Democrat with ads out in Iowa for the January caucus. I'm not sure if the strategy will work because even here in Iowa, it's way too early for most people to be that interested in Presidential politics, but the ads are nicely done and could give him the angle he needs to boost name ID.
Post a Comment
<< Home