Huckabee wins decisively. The screams of despair you hear are coming from “movement conservatives,” neocons and the drown-gubmint-in-the-bathtub, Club for Growth, tax-cuts-uber-alles crowd.
The bobbleheads are saying the New Hampshire GOP primary will be between McCain and Huckabee. Romney is in big trouble. The Giuliani campaign seems to be dead in the water, although there’s still a glimmer of a possibility he could come back.
As I keyboard it’s clear Barack Obama has won the Dem Caucus. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are in a virtual tie for second, but Edwards is staying a dozen votes ahead. Will this (dare I hope?) put the myth of the Inevitable Hillary to rest?
There will be tons of analysis tomorrow. My initial take is that the unprecedented turnout of younger and first-time caucus goers tonight ought to be taken very seriously by both parties. Hillary Clinton’s “experience” is with delivering cautious little mini-tweaks of Republican policies. Also, the economic populist message sold very well in Iowa, especially considering that Huckabee’s campaign leaned more in that direction than did the other GOP candiates’.
There are indications that Chris Dodd will drop out of the race tomorrow, which would be sad, because in many ways I think he’s the best guy running. Other than that, however, I’m happy.
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Also: My technical problems are not completely resolved. I hope the site doesn’t go down again, but for the time being I have to keep comment moderation turned on because I’m getting comment spam by the hundreds per hour, and if I activate the spam filter I’m afraid the site will go down again. I don’t know why that would be so, but I don’t want to take any chances.
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Update: I like this quote, from shamanic:
With Huckabee and Obama apparently winning the Iowa Caucus, I can’t help but think I’m seeing the Democratic Party be reborn into the party of America, and watching the GOP fade to become the party of home schoolers.
Oh Maha, I am lost without you. I hope your e-woes will be fixed soon.
Right-o Maha,
The party of home schoolers and end timers. Let ’em eat duct tape.
Oh, about Hillary….
Remember that scary scene at the end of Fatal Attraction?
Don’t “misunderestimate” her……..
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How much of Obama’s came from repugs? Recall Uncle Remus?
Maha:
“Cautious little mini tweaks of Republican policiesâ€
I could not describe the Clinton campaign with any better words (that don’t sound right). I predict the result will only last (have meaning) for 16 to 24 hours. The networks will create out of thin air new arguments, what does the Obama win mean for conservatives? Can Huckabee possibly defeat the neoconsuperfratboys? I am moderately optimistic about Obama’s win, I was rooting for Edwards.
Huckabee, Obama, too funny names!
Mahabarb,
Now, now…. I am rejoicing in Governor Huckabee’s victory! I will similarly rejoice in a victory by Gov. Romney in NH (or McCain, don’t matter too much which) and I hope Fred wins in SC, and I pray that Ron Paul wins at least a couple delegates, because….
I truly want each and every wing of the Republican party to feel the taste of victory in these primaries! I want them all to march into Minneapolis knowing that their man is the one true conservative hero who will save the Republican party! And when the dust settles, I want every Republican to know that there is a candidate on the ballot in November who they can vote for with a clear conscience. I want Mike Huckabee, as the nominee of the Missouri synod of the Republican Party to be on the ballot in all 50 States (and, of course, the District of Columbia); I want Mitt Romney to truly and deeply win the support of the Republicans for Growth; I want Ron Paul to garner enough support that he feels qualified to be the candidate of the Republican Citizens Councils; I even want Fred Thompson to win the hearts and … well, hearts of the Republican Couch Potatoes Party, and John McCain should win the nomination of the New Conservative Republican Party. Yep, I want a repeat of the 1859 Charleston Convention for the Republicans!
I cannot find the real quote but during the Congress of Vienna, the French representative, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, worked hard to reinstate every Elector and every Princeling to their former German seats. When asked why he hated Germany, he replied that he did not hate Germany, but rather that he loved Germany. In fact he loved Germany so much that he hoped that there would never be just one. I hold a similar opinion of the Republican party, there should never be just one!
So don’t order your Bloomberg bumperstickers!
I have a theory about Bloomberg (other than the obvious). My theory is that Bloomberg is keeping his powder dry just in case the unthinkable happens and we end up without at least two of the following winning the primary’s: Clinton, Giuliani, Romney, or McCain. If by some twist of fate (or failure of the big fix) we end up with the likes of Obama-vs-Huckabee, Bloomberg will have to step in to save the day for the establishment banking, insurance, defense, and free trader industries. But I think we all know that’s most likely not going to happen so Bloomberg will have no need to run. And will be free to enjoy his billions for eternity.
Just a Theory!
I live in Indiana what do I know, I vote in may!
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I’m not wondering if something else is going on here. These are the two candidates that ran “nice guy” campaigns focused on “civility” and “hope” (in the sense of brands — never mind what they actually mean in the context, if anything). Not only does Obama’s hopeful audacity stand in contrast to Clinton’s strict third grade grammar teacher persona and Edward’s scrappy fight to take back our country line, but it also stands in marked contrast to the fake-cowboy Bush/Cheney swagger that all of the tough-guy wannabe’s on the GOP adopted with the exception (for the most part) of Huckabee. Is last night a signal of change in terms of the image we have of a leader. Has the Bush incompetence killed off (or at least seriously hobbled) the image of leadership as the belt wielding father out to give the world a whuppin’ if they don’t fly right and obey his orders and has it been replaced with a picture of a leader as someone softer-spoken and appealing to our better selves. Yes, in the case of Republicans, that seems to always come wrapped in conservative Christian theology, whereas for Democrats it means something more accepting and sociological; but while they are different brands, they strike me as the same flavor (Ben and Jerry’s vs. Jack and Jill?).
It’s sad Chris Dodd couldn’t get more traction. It took spine to stand up against giving the telecoms retroactive immunity. He deserves to become majority leader soon.
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After watching the YouTube of the Obama victory speech, I’d be happy with him as the nominee just as a service to the English language and the art of rhetoric. Man, he can give a good speech, especially after years of listening to W.
As an angry DFH blogger, I’m favoring Edwards, (who, I’m told, is now “doomed”, despite having beaten the woman the same people were telling me was inevitable all summer). But I must admit that Obama sometimes gets me, in the part of my heart that misses Bobby Kennedy. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a President who at least talks about things that way? Sigh.
I am pleased Huck did so well. Truly a case of the R’s getting what they said they wished for.
Expect a lot of pearl-clutching as Huck’s past misdeeds “suddenly” come to light, because there ain’t no way the GOP will let him get away with it, any more than Dean could on the Democratic side.
Because Huck is not that tightly wrapped.
I’m okay with Obama’s win, though I hate playing “strategy, or dumbness?” on OUR side with regards to his public soft play on universal health care and energy independence.
I so hope shamanic is right, a very neat summary.
It’ll take quite a few more defeats to sink Team Hillary, which I doubt are in the offing. “The Titanic is unsinkable”. My sad scenario has the three Ds more or less jockeying for first place, with my man Edwards finally expiring from lack of cash. Hillary has the most cash of them all. And lets hope Rudy disqualifies himself with a health problem, while staying near the bottom where his fear mongering belongs.
BiggerBox, #12, I react the same way to Obama, only I hear JFK not RFK in his speaking (maybe he channels the two brothers on alternating days). And it’s unnerving for me to listen to his supporters swoon over his rhetoric – I got quite a few celebratory screenfuls of this last night at DailyKos. They seem very naive.
Truly the youth vote is huge here. I well remember feeling the same way the Obama-philes felt last night, when George McGovern campaigned in 1972, when many of us in the so called “Youth Generation” still had our hearts and minds firmly planted in the eupohoria of the 1960s. Where we in for a surprise when the Republican machine steam rollered our dreams over the next couple of decades. I hope Obama, if he wins, doesn’t meet the same fate. And I’d hate to see all those kids become jaded like me.
My first thought is that if Obama gets the nomination, I’ll be forced to listen to 3 or 4 months of my coworkers parroting the right-wing Lie Machine’s falsehoods about the senator (he is a closet Muslim, he is hiding bin Laden in his garage, etc.).
I may have to get a plastic spray bottle so I can spritz people in the face with cold water each time they repeat such a lie… the way one does with pets when they’re caught nibbling on the poisonous leaves of houseplants.
Will be interesting to see if the Repugs can actually create a campaign based on other than ‘enemies,’ foreign or domestic. The Bush presidency is based on Good (him) vs Evil (he Decides.) Limbaugh, Coulter…the hate mongers, define Democrats and the Democratic Party as those who must be hated. And that’s about the sum total of the Repub platform.
Whoever the Repub candidate is, will he continue the platform or have to frantically scramble for an ACTUAL platform. (Romney ran on, yes it was subtle but there, ‘enemy’ thing and it got him nowhere.)
Joanr16,
I’ve heard the same crap where I work about the closet Muslim deal.WTF?
Hey Moonbat, first of all, what on earth is wrong with a bit of youthful naivety? As you yourself admit, we don’t all have to start out as jaded people! This may be the nicest day I’ve had in the last 8 years. I would suggest that anyone in the world who listens to Senator Obama can not help but just be inspired by his message! Isn’t there still generally a fairly large amount of middle ground in American politics that can be grabbed by an adequate candidate (i.e. someone with a last name that isn’t Bush or Clinton)? Didn’t John McCain prove that in 2000 (before Bush or Rove killed him in SC)?
I was born in 1980, a whole 12 years after 1968, the year that killed an entire generation’s ideology. Its been a whole 40 years! With Obama we can all turn a page on this whole era of killed hope and dreams! How can anyone not be inspired by this type of opportunity?
A whole lot of the discussion is about the candidates, but the sucsess of Huckabee or Obama is the story about the electorate. Both parties have their talking heads who tell folks what to think and how to vote. Mitt was ordained by the Republicans and Hillory by the Democrats. All the cash and clout was behind those 2 candidates, who the kingmakers have preordained.
The story is that voters from BOTH sides gave the kingmakers the finger, and voted their conscience. Granted, this represents a small percentage of voters in a small state BUT – what if it’s not a fluke?
Could we wind up with an election where the main candidates – BOTH of them, are not loyal to the party machines, and won’t take their marching orders from Wall Street? It’s possible IF the story is truly that the electorate has broken ranks across the spectrum.
For the past ten years or so, I have watched us look for the “perfect” candidate; and, in doing so missed out on getting a perfectly good candidate. Let’s not lose something good just because it ain’t perfect. This search for perfection and the destruction of human beings because they are not perfect is something I find very disturbing.
Also, I have heard all the candidates speak and none of them remind me of JFK. I haven’t seen a politician since who had the wit, intelligence, and grace that JFK had. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any good–and possibly great–candidates out there.