Political quickies on New Hampshire Primary Day

Posted on January 8, 2008 in Politics by DM

barrel cactus - a gift for hillary from iowa Okay, not to beat the poor political horse too much, but I just discovered why February 5 is considered “Super Tuesday.” Did you know that 27 states (and something called “American Samoa”) have primaries or caucuses for one or both parties on that day? No wonder it’s often the final shake-out for the weakest candidates.

Speaking of leaving the race, although yesterday many were speculating that Clinton would exit after Iowa and New Hampshire smack-downs, I simply don’t feel there’s any way that this very driven individual would give up that easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if she stuck things out through to the national convention regardless of her status and against her strategists’ advice. I think she really, truly feels she was destined to be the President; I believe, having read extensively about her, that she has prepared pretty much her entire adult life for this election. And let’s face it, she has a history of forging ahead with bad plans despite indications that they are, in fact, bad plans.

Speaking of bad advice, if you need any more indication that Hillary truly is the candidate of (bad) experience, here’s your fodder: she’s bringing Bill’s old advisors, James Carville and Paul Begala, into her campaign. So she’s out there telling people, “this campaign is indeed about ‘change’ and I’ve been working for change for 35 years…” but when the chips are down, does she take bold steps and CHANGE? Nope, she calls in the tried-and-true. I’ve got a call in to Dick Morris to find out whether he’ll be joining the campaign family reunion any time soon.

Also, this is an interesting item: precinct captains in the Iowa caucuses were often over-whelmed with trying to check in all the participants, who sometimes wanted to register on-the-spot but didn’t bring proof of residency. One Democratic precinct chair said she felt it would be better if caucus-goers’ residency had been verified before they showed up to caucus; the Democratic party says no, on-the-spot registration “works.” I was not surprised in the least by this defensive posture - state Democrats have already shown us they have no interest in verifying voter eligibility, after last session’s refusal to debate a bill that would have required state-issued ID’s to be presented at the polling place. I’m sure the day that un-verified votes result in a Republican victory will be the day they change their minds.

And finally, just for the record, my favorite caucus-related headline was this:
Elections US : Un cactus pour Hillary dans le premier caucus

I don’t speak or read French, but I took a guess that this meant something like, “voters hand Hillary a cactus in first caucus.” Sort of the opposite of handing her a victory, I thought, and to be honest I rather enjoyed the visual of kindly old Iowa farm wives handing Mrs. Clinton a prickly gift.

Then, knowing how language sometimes works, I decided that the word “cactus,” in French, was probably pronounced differently and didn’t mean in French what it means in English. But it turns out I was right the first time: Google Language Tools says it means, “A cactus for Hillary in the first caucus.”

So here you go, Hillary - as Bill Engvall might say, “Here’s your cactus.”

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