Tuesday in New Hampshire
After three and a half years of preparation, the New Hampshire Primary will be concluded today!
The candidates have been feverishly stumping through the state (except Fred Thompson, who doesn’t like the ‘feverish’ approach). Even Mike Huckabee has been making the rounds, shaking hands and kissing babies like everybody else.
The last-minute campaigning in New Hampshire has been revealing on both sides of the aisle. Barack Obama appears to be sweeping everyone else aside, as his campaign continues to gather momentum. We even saw an emotional Hillary Clinton on national television. Perhaps the tearful look is designed to convince voters that she is a caring and compassionate woman, but it seems a little awkward for a potential world leader. Seems Hillary is in a double-bind. It’s a very fine line she needs to manage to be seen as less cold and calculating, without looking like she’s falling to pieces. Probably news reports that she’s having to bus supporters in from other states to fill up her rallies is something she would have preferred not be mentioned. Meantime, John and Elizabeth Edwards were on national television this morning, stating their determination to stay in play, and looking forward to South Carolina.
On the Republican side, both Mitt Romney and John McCain have been making the rounds of the morning news shows with their families. I have to say that the new Romney ads, emphasizing the global economy and his business expertise are very effective, while John McCain looks tanned and rested and much younger than his 71 years. Mike Huckabee was the concluding guest on the David Letterman show last night, and he certainly seemed relaxed and confident. In the meantime, Fox News angered New Hampshire voters by refusing to allow Ron Paul to participate in their televised debate. This did not sit well with independent-minded New Hampshirites.
And speaking of independents, New Hampshire results are still open to much speculation. New Hampshire is the last state in the primaries that allow voters to choose to vote Democrat OR Republican, without having to pre-register as one or the other. From Wednesday on, the states uniformly require that a voter register as Republican or Democrat, in order to vote in a primary. So New Hampshire has a BIG BLOCK of independent voters that can go one way or another.
If Obama gets a large percentage of the independents, it will be disastrous for Hillary and John McCain. If McCain or Huckabee get a large percentage of the independents, Romney doesn’t fare well.
Personally, I’ll be glad when the New Hampshire primary is completed. Iowa and New Hampshire, traditionally bellweathers for national attitudes, have systems in place that leave so much to chance (weather conditions, etc.) that it will be good to find out who the big winners are in New Hampshire and move on. The next twenty primaries will find out what Republicans think about the Republican candidates, and Democrats think about the Democratic candidates. New Hampshire results are important, but this is just the beginning of the long haul to the Presidency.
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire Primary, Politics, Presidential, Presidential primary, Republicans, Ron Paul, South Carolina PrimaryLeave a Reply
Minimal Wordpress Theme by David Cooley
WordPress Powers Non Party Politics