Third Post of the Day: Better Make It IMPORTANT

[snurri]

I was both encouraged and disturbed by the caucus results. Encouraged because I like Obama very much. (Anyone know where I can find video of his speech? I had to go to bed . . .) He's not as far left as I'd like, but the reality is that no one on the American political scene is or is ever likely to be. I also like Edwards--I stayed up to watch his speech, and he said all the right things--although I think perhaps the stink of failure in '04 may be following him.

Huckabee, on the other hand? Kinda scary. That's quite a trench between the two "winners" last night.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

The thing with Huckabee is, he's (admittedly) a know-nothing. You can get away with being a know-nothing early in a campaign, but eventually people realize it.

And, in any other presidential election, a charming know-nothing has a good chance of being elected. But even republicans are getting kinda sick of being represented by somebody who stumbles around being clueless. (See also, "You, sir, are no Jack Kennedy" and other assorted Dan Quayle buffoonery.)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

One thing that Chris Matthews said in the coverage last night was that until the caucus we didn't know who "the Huckabee" was. Like, we didn't know who was the guy who would either get knocked down in the primaries or defeat all comers until after Iowa--and, having recently read a few books about the '68 and '72 election cycles, the former is definitely a pattern. So, yeah, I think you're right that this is likely to turn around quickly. I think the contrast between the two "winners" last night is still pretty amazing, though.