The Wild Rumpus continues! Let's take a quick look at what some of the candidates are up to, shall we?
Fred Thompson. Will Fred Thompson drop out? The Politico says: "Several Republican officials close to Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign said they expect the candidate will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday’s Iowa caucus." But what do we conclude, then, from the reported "late-breaking surge" in Thompson's favor which may or may not be occurring?
You can read the theorizing and hypothesizing and smug know-all blathering (sorry, D Cupples; I told you when I started that I am not a a nice man) from Cornerite Peter Robinson about just how "refreshing" certain right-wing morons such as David Limbaugh find the fact that Fred Thompson doesn't want to be president all that much and has more or less said so straight out. (Damozel called him the "zen" candidate which seems to have been a polite way of saying that he's consistently made it clear by various signs and markers that he isn't willing to make any special effort to get the nomination unless perchance the voters just want to hand it to him because of his lack of hubris and the fact he plays a gruff but lovable prosecutor on TV ).
My own impression is that the Republican pundits are actually becoming quite desperate in their attempts to convince their readers that they care about any of the "field." All have significant drawbacks.
John McCain to the rescue! A Rasmussen poll says that he's the only candidate toward whom a majority of voters have favorable feelings. Yes, that's right. Even liberals like me who would rather cut off an arm than vote for him have favorable feelings toward him. He is the only front-running Republican who has shown a shred of decency on the torture issue and he has stood by that principle even when it appeared to be really damaging him with the "base."
Otherwise, the poll seems to show the split along partisan lines that we've come to expect. The only surprise for me was this: "Among Democrats, Clinton is viewed favorably by 80% of Democratic voters, Edwards by 66%, and Obama by 61%." (Rasmussen report) So hard to remember as one should that not all Democrats share the negative view of Clinton that seems so prevalent on the blogosphere.
But then of course there's this ABC News report which suggests that Clinton's team are preparing for a disappointing finish, since they are "insisting" that a third place finish wouldn't disappoint them.
As the presidential candidates engage in furious pre-caucus spin, one of Sen. Hillary Clinton's most prominent Iowa supporters said Wednesday that she's already accomplished what she needs to in Iowa and can declare success even if she finishes in third place.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack told ABC News that Clinton has shown that she can appeal to a wide swath of Democrats, which is what she came to Iowa to do.
"She has done what she needed to do here," Vilsack said shortly before a Clinton campaign event in Indianola. "When she started the process she was way behind — it's now by all standards a competitive race."
Asked if the order of finish matters, Vilsack deflected the question.
"She absolutely had to be competitive, and she's accomplished that," he said. "Obviously, everybody's interested in winning, and I think we're going to do well. It's tight. There's no question about that....
In May, Vilsack was quoted in The Washington Post as saying, "There's no question she's playing in Iowa and playing to win." Vilsack dropped out of the presidential race earlier this year and endorsed Clinton." (ABC News)
The same report says that all the candidates on both sides are in a state of uncertainty about the outcome in Iowa. Well, we'll know soon enough, and in fact, all this speculation is sort of a bloody waste of energy, except for the entertainment value of watching the candidates spin.
I think we all know that there are very different reasons why the races are so tight for both Republicans and Dems.
In the case of the Democrats, it's because most voters feel that the field so strong that we're finding it hard to commit.. In point of fact, though I lean toward Obama, I haven't made up my mind.
In the case of the Republicans, it's because each candidate has significant drawbacks from the point of view of a significant percentage of voters. In other words--with all due respect to the candidates as individuals---it is a crap field from the standpoint of building any sort of consensus. .
On Hardball, the Mittster's adviser Jim Talent assured Chris Mathews that Romney will stop "the militant gays" from "changing the institutions of this country." (Think Progress) On the bright side, he values gays "as people," just not as people who have the same civil rights as the rest of us. (Think Progress) (Are there any "Log Cabin Republicans" left at this stage? And if so, why?)
In the meantime, Huckers has been on Leno!
On the show, Huckabee, a bass player, sat in with Leno's band for a tune and joked about his weight loss. He also took Leno through the particulars of the Fair Tax, which he supports.
" It frees people up to earn as much as they want. You don't get taxed on income, savings, investments, capital gains, or debt," Huckabee said.
When Leno asked how he felt after filming an attack ad against Romney--an ad that Huckabee pulled before it ever ran -- the guest said it didn't feel right:
I needed to go take a shower or something like that, or give Romney a shower maybe." (The Swamp)
I doubt Jesus would approve of Huck giving Romney a shower, but Hucklebee, as a Baptist pastor, knows Jesus better than I do. No doubt he knows where to draw the line. Here's the report from The Hill.
As he often does, the former governor drew big laughs from the crowd when he told them to tell their neighbors who might caucus for one of his rivals that they do not want to miss the Orange Bowl, which is being played the same night as the caucuses.
“Shovel your snow into their driveway,” Huckabee joked. “Let the air out of their tires, disconnect their battery cable.”
Lord, please let Hucklebee win the Republican nomination, okay? It is so delightful to watch the conservative pundits squirm in impotent rage as the base blithely ignores their mutterings and fomentings and rendings of garments. As Huckabee's wife put it, it would be "too cool." Amen.
MEMEORANDUM BLOG BUZZ ON THE RASMUSSEN REPORT IS HERE.
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Tancredo and Thompson: Of Evolution-Deniers and Lackluster Performances
Mike Huckabee: God's Candidate or Ignorant Caster of Stones? You Decide!
Christopher Hitchens: "It's Perfectly Reasonable to Reject a Candidate for his Religious Views"
I wonder if a study has been done of how people respond when bombarded with so many names of so many wannabes. I feel like I'm searching for the plain doughnut for fear of being disappointed by strange new flavors.
Posted by: SandyCarlson | January 03, 2008 at 06:09 PM