History in the Making

11 Responses to “History in the Making”

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• Typical Frightened Right Wing Guy

  January 4, 2008 at 8:28 am

  Last night was a great, historic victory for the Republican party.

  Everyone knows the only reason there was such an unexpected surge of people at the DummocRatic caucus was that the people of Iowa are sick and tired of you Liberaloosers. They all came to vote against Hillarity in record numbers.

  We Republicans warned the American people about Hillarity and our hard work has paid off. The people are listening to us, not you pinheads.

  It is common knowledge that the only true agents of change who can still keep America safe from the impending Muslim invasion are the Republican candidates, with the exeption of Huckabee and Paul.

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• Kerosene Hat

  January 4, 2008 at 9:09 am

  As a politically active independent I am happy that Obama has taken the lead for the Democratic nomination. I say that despite having very different views on economic and other issues. I truly hope an Obama presidency would help us send a signal. A signal to the world and ourselves that race and religious background are no longer unassailable barriers to having ones voice heard.

  If Obama is the nominee and he continues on the path that has gotten him this far I would support him over just about any Republican candidate. McCain still holds some appeal for me and I have a soft spot for Paul, as kooky as he is at times, but would never support any of the other Republicans.

  If Hillary or Edwards is the nominee the equation changes dramatically for me and, I believe, for many other independents. We will all start to look at other options and weigh each of their inherent and overwhelming flaws. Most likely independents would split among the bad options, stay home or vote third party/independent, say a Bloomberg. All while becoming increasingly cynical about their government.

  Hopefully over the next month or so both Democrats and Republicans will understand that the game has and needs to change and move Obama and McCain to the top of their respective tickets. If so we can look forward to choosing between two candidates that have at least some measure of integrity and are able to articulate real positions on issues to the majority of Americans currently disenfranchised by both parties.

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• Izzy

  January 4, 2008 at 11:50 am

  Why is this history making?
  A moderate democrat won in Iowa when he was expected to do very well( i think he projected to win in many of the polls that came out in the last few days) - not sure why this history making.

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• DJZ

  January 4, 2008 at 12:41 pm

  Izzy, stop trying to pi$$ on the parade.

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• Izzy

  January 4, 2008 at 1:44 pm

  I am not trying to piss on the parade (although I do think we should hold off any parades until he has actually won the nomination) - I am asking a legitimate question - what is so history making about the win? He had been projected to win for days and then he won.

  While I certainly congratulate him and his team for the win, they did a fabulous job in Iowa, but I don’t see it has “history making”.

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• Matt

  January 4, 2008 at 1:50 pm

  Izzy, read this:
   http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1700132,00.html

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• Jesse

  January 4, 2008 at 2:28 pm

  Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa is indeed an historic moment. In recent weeks it is also not a very surprising moment, as if pre-ordained by the media. With the way the media has adored Barack Obama it is not surprising that he won Iowa and may route Hillary Clinton in the upcoming primaries.

  Obama has been the media darling ever since he announced his candidacy, and has not received close to the scrutiny that Hillary Clinton has received; her every word and action is analyzed and twisted … every time a less than endearing picture of her is taken it ends up as the lead on Drudge. But I guess Obama is bulletproof (his reply to any attack can be summed up as “how dare you attack my record! I don’t have one!”)

  Every Obama speech or event is praised for the crowds and his message. Will Obama win because he and his supporters are overbrimming with hope for change? Hope is what you have left when you have done everything else you can do to succeed. Hope is not a strategy. General Petraeus was not picked to lead us in Iraq because he has more “hope” than any of the other guys. The Republicans will not join hands with a President Obama, because his liberal policies fill them with hope.

  As much as it Barack Obama is a refreshing face in the election campaign and as much energy as he brings to the race, he will be a terrible candidate in the general election. As much as I want a democrat to win in 2008, with no substance to his candidacy, John McCain or Rudy Giuliuni will chew Obama up and spit him out.

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• Kerosene Hat

  January 4, 2008 at 6:04 pm

  First off, Giuliuni has no chance of winning the endorsement at this point much less the general election. He makes Ms. Clinton look cuddly and principled.

  While I am happy Obama has taken the lead I am under no illusions about the reasons. People are not running to Obama as much as they are away from the awful record of Hillary and the divisive pandering of Edwards. With Clinton and Edwards as the only other viable options for Democrats at this point rolling the die with Obama can easily be viewed as preferable. Claims that either Edwards or Clinton are being judged by their record is not completely true anyway as both have records that, to a good degree, are inconsistent with their current rhetoric. One person may view Hillary’s past as “experience” as another person views is as “baggage”. It all depends on what you thought of her positions, on things like the Resolution for the Use of Force, Patriot Act 1, Patriot Act 2, selling pardons with Bill, refusing to release her White House papers…

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• Jesse

  January 4, 2008 at 8:39 pm

  I agree with you, Kerosene, that Obama is the obvious choice when Clinton is not appealing to a large segment of caucus-goers and primary voters. But the narrative that the media is portraying is not about Clinton’s negatives killing her candidacy, it is now about Obama leading a historical and national movement to change the entire political picture. Hillary cannot fight that fight; whereas at least she has a chance if the fight is about experience and records, whatever one feels about those sorts of things.

  For me it is about who will make a better president; Hillary wins hands-down for me in that regard. Obama’s message of hope only works for me in the respects that I “hope” he would have huge coattails in the general election to relegate the GOP into a small, ultra-conservative minority, and create a national mandate. Otherwise, the rest of his presidency is a leap of faith that he has the right temperment and management skills for the job.

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• Izzy

  January 4, 2008 at 10:10 pm

  Thanks for the link Matt - it was very helpful.

  I get that what they did, organizationally, was quite a feet and I give them a hearty well-done!

  I guess what I struggle with is what the great appeal to Obama is because what I read and hear is that we should get excited because a black guy won in Iowa - not that his message was any better or he is more qualified or will be a better president - but that a black guy won in an overwhelmingly white state.
  I wonder sometimes if the color of his skin were something other than brown - would we be paying as much attention to him or would we?

  I want to also agree with something Jesse said about Obama being the media darling - MyDD did a great piece on Edwards being blacked out and clearly shows that both Clinton and Obama got overwhelmingly more coverage than Edwards - something like 5-1 more times. It also strikes that the MSM clearly never challenges anything Obama says.

  Just things I ponder.

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• Dan

  January 5, 2008 at 10:44 am

  If there is one thing I can’t stand its candidates and supporters complaining about media coverage. You need to assume that the media is going to be unfair - that it will ignore you, that it won’t ask tough questions of your opponents, that it will misreperesnt you and highlight haircuts and other trivial things over real issues. That is how it is and how it will always be. A good candidate needs to take control of the media and the message. Everything else is just whining.

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