We’ve already spoken to the Republican side of things, last night. [1] So now on to the Democrats.
As we noted, the other night, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the race, not even bothering to wait for the pew days until New Hampshire. Pitiful.
I’m thinking that Mike Gravel should have dropped out as well, but I expect he won’t until after New Hampshire. If he hangs on beyond that, I think it clear he’d be bucking for a VP slot.
Once you get beyond that level, there is only three people in play on the Democrat side.
John Edwards came in Second in Iowa, and is now claiming to have set his sights on Obama. Thing is, he’s not polling nearly as well in New Hampshire as he did in Iowa, and thereby not nearly as likely to do well there. On the other hand, how he does in this horse race depends on how Hillary Clinton does….and that depends utterly on the discussion between her and Obama.
Obama is the one to beat in New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton is planning, according to reports on going negative on Obama. (Shrug) That’s what the Clinton machine has always done. And that worked when they were the big players on the stage. Now, there seems a question mark.
I don’t see as a negative campaign, which seemingly is all Hillary Clinton knows how to do, is going to help her much in New Hampshire.
I also don’t see, after the third place performance she turned in in Iowa, that Hillary Clinton can grab the nomination without improving. She managed to lie her way out of Iowa’s poor performance…. remember, for months it was in Mrs Inevitable, and then when she came in third place, she claimed on national TV that she never really planned to be in the lead in Iowa…. yeah, right…. but she’s not going to be able to pull that kind of expectation setting trick in New Hampshire.
[2]Mind, that’s not so much a locational thing, as a repetition thing. If she gets beat in New Hampshire, she’s burned toast…. Particularly if she gets beat by Obama again. I think a loss in New Hampshire will finally expose the answer to the question of whether or not the Clintons are still in control of the Democratic Party. Amusingly, if they are not, this would be the result of the Nutroots and their actions. I say, amusingly, because frankly, what the Democrats end up with after Clinton, is even more questionable. As an indication of how she’s going to perform in New Hampshire, you may be interested to know that I’m seeing reports of the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s 100 club dinner, where Obama was wildly cheered by the crowd, and Hillary Clinton basically got booed off the stage. [3] I’m not sure how much to read into this event, but it doesn’t seem to bode well for the Clintonistas.