Like a Star Wars saga, the Presidential election, with it's complicated currents of opinion and momentum took an interesting turn yesterday. For one thing, the citizens of New Hampshire gave a rousing EFFF-YOU to the pundits who had buried Hillary Clinton. Obama was able to use his Iowa victory to make progress in New Hampshire, but not enough to overcome a stout and impassioned campaign by Hillary Clinton. Hillary, for all her faults and political baggage is a force to be reckoned with and will need to be considered in due time.
As a new Obama supporter (Biden having dropped out), I was hoping for a victory for Obama. However, it wasn't to be. Obama's concession speech was a thing of beauty, and Hillary's victory speech showed that she still has the passion and concern to try to pitch her case to the American people. Edward's weak showing should give him encouragement to leave the race. Edwards has been a powerful and compelling voice for change, but his voice is being drowned out by Obama's. Edwards at some point must realize that every vote for him, is also a vote not going for Obama and is therefore helping Hillary Clinton.
As for the Hillary victory, it garnered her 9 delegates. Obama received 9 as well. In the overall scheme of things, it was not a crushing victory or defeat for either Obama or Clinton. It did signify that this race is far from over. The complicated currents in our body politic is churning beyond the labels and mindless rhetoric the pundits live in. In both the Iowa and New Hampshire votes, the pundits were wrong on many levels, taking sides and trying to create momentum for their own choices. And the people said, "enough, I'll decide for myself."
I'm encouraged by many things in this campaign. For one thing, more people are voting on the Democratic side than on the Republican side. I'm reminded of a high school football game, where the cheerleaders cheer, "we got spirit, yes we do,we got spirit, how bout you." Right now, the Democrats have more spirit, but this isn't really a football game. The candidates will need to continue to articulate their vision for our Republic and address some of the most pressing issues we face. How they do that may still determine who moves on to the November election.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Of course, Obama matched expectations in NH, as did Edwards. But Hillary mysteriously got a lot of votes that didn't come from the other two leading candidates. Where did they come from?
Well, it seems that the precincts counted by hackable Diebold machines gave Hillary those extra votes. Obama ought to ask for a manual recount.
Until I get something concrete, I'm not willing to attribute Hillary's comebach to technological conspiracy. I suppose it is possible, but if it was exposed, Hillary's whole campaign would be doomed. The risk/reward comparison doesn't favor that perspective.
Atleast that is my take.
Post a Comment