Oh, yeah. This is familiar territory. The Obama-mania in Des Moines is palpable. Everyone is asking everyone,"Who are you for?"
Everytime I tell someone "I'm for Hillary," they screw up their brow and smile and tilt their head and say, "really? I figured you'd be for Obama."
Technically, I am "for" any democrat who can restore our country's good standing in the world and solve a myriad of problems that have been created by George W. Bush's limited understanding of playing in the world's sandbox.
But yes, I am "for" Hillary even though she is not the flavor of the month. I've seen this kind of hype before. Howard Dean was generating this type of hype. Bill Bradley generated it before that. Both of them finished a disappointing third and second, respectively. Coming out of Iowa in a disappointing position nearly always weakens your candidacy. After Dean's loss in Iowa, (YAH!) he was toast in about a month after the Iowa Caucus. Bradley ditched his in March, 2000, just two months after the Iowa caucus. Gephardt scheduled his news conference to drop out just a day or two after Iowa.
Hillary is in the perfect position right now. If people expect her to come in second or third, and she comes in first or second, then she will have momentum. If she places third, then that might be a different story. But right now I am still predicting that it will be Edwards, Hillary and Obama, in no particular order. It will be interesting to see how many of Obama's young supporters actually show up. That was Dean's problem. Lots of cheering young folks, hardly any showing up on caucus night. Obama's going to have even more trouble because of the early caucus date, January 3. All the college kids that would normally swarm their college caucus will be at home doing laundry instead.
I have to share my hilarious encounter last night with an ultra-rabid republican friend of mine. I saw him and his son at the costume shop last night (don't ask) and he predictably asked me who I was supporting. When I said Hillary, his fifth-grade son recoiled back a few feet, his little freckled face looking like he had just seen a vile murder a few feet away.
My friend laughed when he saw his son's face. I put my hand on his shoulder, and looked up in the air. "Let me guess, you are a Mitt Romney supporter." Astonished, he looked at his dad. My friend said, "hey, that's pretty good!"
We had a nice, friendly conversation, but as I walked away, I wondered how his son had arrived at the conclusion, at age 11, that a Hillary presidency would cause him to recoil in horror. I'm guessing it is because that young man hears the venom being spewed every which way here in the Hawkeye state.
But guess what? I do the same thing with my kids in the room. Every time George Bush comes on the TV, my kids recoil in horror too.
why the kid crinkled his nose:
from NY Post: " Said another Democratic strategist, "It reinforces everyone's negative opinion of her and all that the Clintons have been for so long. She's throwing these dead carcasses in the road trying anything to stop Obama."
Even Clinton supporters acknowledge that her attacks - almost all shrill and ineffective - have backfired.
Many declined, however, to talk on the record, citing the Clintons' legendary appetite for spite and vengeance."
Posted by: chester324b | December 14, 2007 4:55 PM | Permalink to Comment