Morning-After Politics!
The results of the Michigan Primary are in and perhaps some lessons were learned. Surprisingly, Republican voters overwhelmingly selected Mitt Romney, though polls showed him evenly neck-and-neck with John McCain, or even behind McCain in several polls, prior to the votes. Mike Huckabee came in third with only 16% of the votes.
So the top three Republican field of candidates has not narrowed at all and now heads to South Carolina, to join Fred Thompson and Ron Paul for Saturday’s primary there. Thompson has said that results in South Carolina, where he has campaigned heavily, will determine whether he continues in the race or not. Ron Paul, with his huge financial and internet backing, has also been campaigning heavily in the state, mostly with constant TV ads. One of his latest ads states that he has enormous support from active military personnel, possibly to emphasize support for his “get out of Iraq” position. Meanwhile, Rudy Guiliani continues to place his emphasis on Florida on the 29th.
On the Democratic side, Hillary swept the Democratic vote (what there was of it) in Michigan. This isn’t too surprising, since the other candidates removed their names from the ballots as part of the National Democratic Party sanctions. Then the Democratic debate last night in Nevada emphasized the difference between Barack Obama and Clinton’s view of presidential priorities, with Obama touting “vision” and Clinton talking about “experience”. The heated issues of race and gender were neatly side-stepped, but John Edwards still managed to get a few shots at Clinton. Mostly, the candidates attacked the current administration, rather than each other.
It appears that we won’t know who has the advantage in each party until the votes are in on Super Tuesday (Feb. 5th), when 52% of the total Democratic delegates and 41% of the total possible Republican delegates will be awarded. But there are a few factors that could be key:
- Whether fears of a recession and unemployment are uppermost in the minds of voters
- What, if any, violence occurs worldwide to trigger fresh reminders of a terror-threat potential.
- Fuel and food price hikes
- Whether any candidate “shoots themselves in the foot” in the interim
While clever advertising (including negative ads), campaigning efficiently in states with maximum delegates, and avoiding publicity disasters are all important to the success of any campaign, perhaps the most important issues are beyond the control of any candidate. It remains to be seen whether terrorist fears or financial woes drive voters to the booths in the upcoming primaries.
Tags: Barack Obama, delegates, Democrats, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Michigan Primary, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Nevada, Nevada Primary, Politics, Presidential, Presidential primary, Republicans, Ron Paul, Rudi Guiliani, South Carolina Primary, Super TuesdayLeave a Reply
Minimal Wordpress Theme by David Cooley
WordPress Powers Non Party Politics