Veeerrry Interesting Saturday

Obama's strategy of incrementally chiping away at her delegate lead is working rather well. The national media seem determined not to abandon its "Clinton-as-frontrunner" narrative despite the fact that Clinton's strategy is in serious trouble at this point. At the risk of jinxing Obama, it seems clear to me that he's probably going to be the nominee.

If anything, the most interesting development was on the GOP side. It's surprising, no, shocking, that Huckabbe can pummel McCain so thoroughly AFTER McCain has been practially annointed as the nominee.
The math is against Huckabee, of course, but one has to wonder what the effect will be on McCain if Huckabee starts racking up a whole series of winners. Will the Party be happy is the guy who is winning at the end doesn't get the nomination? Has that even happened before?

Obama has a good night

While many supporters undoubtedly hoped for even more, it's clear that trends are not in Clinton's favor. She's mostly hanging on through institutional forces that heavilt favored her.
Obama won at least a dozen states tonight, across the breadth of the entire country. He won states in every single region.
I think that, in the end, he will be the Democratic nominee. Obama has momentum. He has money. And now time is in his favor. Clinton's strategy was based on knocking off all competitors with a big Super Tuesday. That's failed. Now she'll have to battle state-by-state against Obama on the retail level.

Meanwhile, we have positive developments as well. Neither McCain nor Huckabee are creatures of the Bushist right. Their preferred candidate is only still in the race because he has an enormous personal fortune that he's willing to spend and a GOP establishment that has no where else to turn.
Still, it seems that McCain will be the GOP nominee, and may very well have Huckabee as Veep.

So, the bottom line is that Bushism is dead. Thoroughly rejected by both parties. Torture will end. If they are smart, those running the CIA secret prisons will start dismantling that whole thing ASAP. They can't expect that the new president will be favorably disposed to what they have done.

Clinton Crap

I was better disposed to the notion of a possible Hillary Clinton administration at the beginning of this process than I am now that the campaign has been going on. Once they were put under a little stress the Clintons reminded me of all the reasons why I disliked them in the first place. The little "dispute" over the Nevada caucuses is a good example.
Now, purely on the merits, I think the Clinton side had some valid points. However, the proper time to raise them was when the plan was being set up, not just a few days before the caucuses and day after the casino workers decided to endorse Obama. It's too late then to argue about principles.
And then, of course, they insist they had nothing to do with the challenge. That's what I can't stand about the Clintons. They feel absolutely entitled to tell us any bullshit story they want and we're supposed to just accept it.
Well, after 8 years of Clinton I treating me and my fellow citizens like mushrooms, followed by 7+ years of Bush II also treating us like mushrooms I'm not in any mood for more of that kind of crap. It's the main reason why Romney has turned me off.
Don't they get it? Haven't they noticed that the candidates getting the most enthusiasm are Obama, McCain, Edwards, Paul and Huckabee. Those guys are generally telling people what they really think. You may or may not agree or like it, but you can respect it.
Meanwhile people like Clinton, Romney, Guiliani and Thompson are basically putting us on notice that if we elect them, we're going to get a steady diet of crap for at least four more years.
Right.
Go to hell.

OK, Iowa is behind us. On to NH.

All-in-all I'm pleased with the results of Iowa.
First off, I'm glad Barack Obama won. To this point he's my favorite candidate. I took the time to listen to his victory speech and I thought it was one of the best political speeches of recent times. If he keeps this up ...
I'm glad Clinton came in third. While I don't think Edwards would be a bad president, there's a lot about him I don't care for. (But I do agree with much of his criticism of the system). But I'm glad he came in second because that, even more than Obama's win, signals that "Ms. Inevitable" is not inevitable at all. The Democrats have at least two guys that they might like better than her.
I'm sorry Chris Dodd didn't do a bit better, but I'm glad to have him back on the Senate beat where he's performing vital work against the FISA bill.
Biden was a good man running at the wrong time. Richardson will soon drop out. He also never made the case. He'd make a good cabinet level appointment, though.

On the GOP side things also worked out reasonable well. McCain did well enough to go on, and Ron Raul finished with a strong 10% which should ensure his much-needed voice continues to be heard. Thompson's still in the running for now, although he can't seem to shake off the "so-what?" atmosphere surrounding his campaign. Rudy didn't really play in this particular sandbox, so it's hard to know what, if anything his 4% might mean down the road. Blowing off 3-4 states to start the campaign does seem like a long-shot, to me, but what do I know?
The big news is that Huckabee trashed Romney. First off, I'm glad the phony flamed out. With a little luck Granite Staters will tell him to bugger off too and we'll be rid of him. It's kind of sad, because he might have made a good candidate and a constructive president if he's been the guy who was governor of Massachusetts. Instead he revealed himself to be an unprincipled empty suit. That's the last thing this country needs.
There's very little chance I'd support Huckabee for president, but I do think his candidacy is valuable. For a long time the GOP establishment has used (in the most debasing way) the social conservative/religious elements of the party to win elections while treating them and their concerns with thinly disguised contempt. (For details read David Kuo). It's only fair that they get their chance at the top of the heap, but early indications are that the establishment regards this prospect with absolute horror. The fallout from this can only be positive as the establishment push back merely confirms what the social cons and theocons already suspect -- they've been played for fools and patsies by the GOP. They won't become Democrats but they damn well may stay home. If they do the GOP is toast.

Good job, Iowa.