Wednesday, January 9, 2008

And the winner is...... the 99.5% of Americans who haven't voted

Apparently I should get out of the prediction business. After a bold Iowa prediction, which was wrong, I couldn't get past the poles in New Hampshire and thought the momentum for Barack in five days was just too much. New Hampshire provided a night for the ages when it come to the world of politics.

As a follower of politics I think what is happening in both parties is just what the country needs. A real campaign that will thoroughly put candidates and their ideas through the needed scrutiny that does not happen enough. One half of one percent of the voters have cast their ballots and pundits were saying that the race would be over if Obama won New Hampshire? I love Barack Obama wanted to see him earn the nomination.

The Republicans are even more interesting. They could very well go all the way to the convention with noone winning enough delegates. If Romney can hold off McCain in Michigan there is a reality that the Romney, McCain, Huckabee, and Rudy could all go to the convention with a chance to win.

As far as yesterday, think the that field operation of the Clinton team did exactly what the Obama team did in Iowa. As a long time field operative I love hearing pundits give kudos to those that really kill themselves for campaigns. Not the people in front of the cameras who everyone knows, but the 20-26 year old kids working 20 hour days for $800-$1500/month. Just as the Obama field team deserves a lions share of the credit for the creative and unique Iowa operation the Clinton team deserves for their New Hampshire operation.

  • Obama's speech was absolutely phenomenal. Think of all the speeches I have heard from him, including the famous convention speech that this one impressed me the most. This one was under scrutiny and a shocking defeat, yet he stayed strong and impressive.
  • As great as the Obama speech was, think that a factor in his defeat was yet another substandard debate performance on Saturday night. The people of New Hampshire were watching and it clearly hurt him.
  • John Edwards needs a new speech. For the second straight week he gave the same speech about the same people. Don't see where Edwards goes from here, but hope that he stays in the race as his populist message has driven the debate amongst the big three and his focus on the poor is 100% needed.
  • The unsung hero for the Clinton camp has been Hillary's wing person as of late. That would be the most popular and highly thought of Clinton. Not Bill,,, but Chelsea.
  • Interested that Hillary went from the VIP stage in New Hampshire with Governors and former Cabinet members everywhere, to just her and the Clintons. Think that was a good image to portray.
  • Think Huckabee gave another stellar and grateful speech that shows what a force he can be in the race as the best campaigner.
  • “It’s not ‘American Idol.’ You have to vote smart.” From Maureen Dowd's New York Times article today. Let's hope we are past the shotgunned, overhyped Iowa and New Hampshire and we can move forward to start deciding both the nominees on issues and plans to better America.

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