Politics: What Will the Future Bring?
With all the excitement going on yesterday with the Iowa caucuses, I guess it’s time to get this site re-activated.
History was made in Iowa yesterday with the stunning victories of former underdogs in BOTH parties. Barack Obama is the first African-American to ever win in a Presidential primary or caucus. And Mike Huckabee pulled-off a miracle victory with an under-funded and under-staffed campaign.
While Obama’s win is historic, it is not all that surprising. He has a vast campaign chest and even had the famous Oprah stumping for him through the states. With new and formerly-Independent voters pushing him to victory, Obama’s message of ‘change in Washington’ carried the night. From very early on in the evening, every news station listed him as the projected winner. And his win is a clear indicator that people, at least in Iowa, are unhappy with the status quo. What was more surprising on the Democratic side is that Hillary Clinton came in third, even though she has the largest financial and political backing of any of the candidates.
Of the three Democratic candidates, the night was most critical for John Edwards. His situation was really ‘Win-or-Die’ and his campaign got a boost when he edged-out Hillary by 1%. Perhaps coming in second will mean that his campaign will finally get some serious financial backers so he can carry on with his message of defending the middle class.
On the Republican side, until a couple of weeks ago, Mike Huckabee was way down in the pack. Up to that point, it looked like Mitt Romney, financing his own campaign and his well-organized team, was a ‘Shoo-in’. Then Huckabee’s momentum began with evangelical Christians pouring out to support him. Now, in New Hampshire on Tuesday, and in the upcoming early primaries, it will be interesting to see if the evangelicals can help Huckabee maintain his momentum. Or if other Republicans will see him as the man capable of the big win in November.
One other surprising note of the night was that John McCain made a creditable showing, tying with Fred Thompson for third place. Ron Paul, with his recent bankroll and his widespread internet support team, didn’t even get mentioned.
Well, a caucus is NOT a primary. Now that the candidates have moved on from Iowa to New Hampshire, it will be interesting to see what the results will be with a true, secret-ballot vote in the New Hampshire primary.
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Iowa caucus, John Edwards, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire Primary, Presidential primary, RepublicansLeave a Reply
Minimal Wordpress Theme by David Cooley
WordPress Powers Non Party Politics