<p>REPUBLICANS w/66 percent reporting</p>
<p>Huckabee 34%</p>
<p>Romney 25%
Thompson 14%
McCain 13%
Paul 10%
Giuliani 4%
Hunter 0 %</p>
<p>DEMOCRATS w/ 90 percent reporting</p>
<p>Obama 37%
Edwards 30%
Clinton 30%
Richardson 2%
Biden 1% </p>
<hr>
<p>Thoughts: Obama wins NH, Edwards drops out and endorses Obama. Obama wins nomination. McCain wins NH. Huck wins SC. Huck wins nomination.</p>
<p>Edwards won’t drop out, unless he’s dead last in NH, which I don’t think is gonna happen. And I think McCain is going to do very well in NH.</p>
<p>I think some of the candidates are waiting for the primaries from the larger states such as Fla., NY, or Mich. before they decide to drop out. Guilliani comes to mind in that category. </p>
<p>Who do you think will be this campaign’s “Comeback Kid” a la B. Clinton. Can lightening strike twice in the same family?</p>
<p>Rick Perry wins the nomination of the Party of Family Values.</p>
<p>Rick Perry? This Texan shudders at the thought. Though he does have remarkably good hair.</p>
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<p>They can wait to drop out all they want. It’s irrelevant. You need to win Iowa or NH to win the nomination. 1992 Bill Clinton was only an exception because Iowa’s senator Harkin was there.</p>
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<p>No time for a comeback with a front-load on Feb. 5.</p>
<p>yeah, Giuliani got owned
Edwards did well!</p>
<p>If you will recall Iowa in 2004, Kerry won, Edwards second, Dean third and Gephardt fourth. Gephardt dropped out immedately. Dean screamed and Edwards won the VP slot. </p>
<p>If a similar patterns developes this time, Obama is the Democrat Pres. candidate. I don’t think Edwards will take the VP again this time. Possibly Clinton will take the VP slot given her never-ending ambition.</p>
<p>Dodd has dropped out, the first of many.</p>
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<p>Can’t the far-right pick a new enemy? First all the loonies were running around talking about how Clinton was the inevitable nominee.</p>
<p>
Actually it was the Democrats and liberal media who were saying Clinton was the lock for President candidate and the winner in the general election. Looney Democrats? If you say so.</p>
<p>In 2004 there was an incumbent. Wasn’t Dean’s cheer very cool? I couldn’t believe people didn’t like it.</p>
<p>What kind of president will Edwards be if his wife gets very ill? A very sad situation, but I can’t believe it is only on my mind.</p>
<p>Diebold and shenanigans at the polls are the never ending
issue. I think the foreclosures in Ohio are so great this year it may have an effect. Then again, they are growing all that subsidized ethanol.</p>
<p>No headlines that I’m a democrat. I’ve tried to remain open to all dem candidates, but will say I have favored Obama since before he announced he’d run. I read both his books, and even attended a local meeting to volunteer for the campaign. However, most of the trips to Iowa this past fall fell on weekends that I was working, so I was not able to get involved.</p>
<p>Watching his speech on TV tonight gave me chills. It was the first time in a long time that I felt hope for my children and future grandchildren. I’m going to pull out his first book tonight and reread it for inspiration.</p>
<p>I was just a toddler/young kid when JFK and MLK were at the heights of their careers and assassinated, and I can only go by the word of those older than me when I hear of the charisma, character and hope these two gentlemen brought our country. Many compare Obama to them. The thing that scares me though, is the risk of Obama’s fate ending up like theirs. While I think he has an excellent chance of becoming our next president, I worry about the lunatics out there who would do anything to prevent that. I think it is admirable that he has put his life out there, knowing the risks involved, when he has two young children. </p>
<p>I’ve had conversations with others (both dems and repubs) about this, and I’m not the first person whose mind this has crossed. In the meantime, I will do what I can to commit to involvement in this campaign (since I’m only an hour from Chicago it’s easy to get downtown to the national headquarters), and try to set my fears aside.</p>
<p>I’ve supported Obama from Day 1, actually from before he announced his candidacy (went online and found a bumper sticker and campaign button from some independent company). His speech tonight was gorgeous. As Chris Matthews said tonight on MSNBC, I think we are seeing a generational shift here from one end of the Baby Boom (Clinton) to the other (Obama was born in 1961). It seems at this point to be much less about race or electing a woman than it is about a sense of saying goodbye to the recent past. My generation, and I certainly think my children’s (age 20 and 17) seem to think beyond race and gender so much of the time. And Obama is able to project unity; Clinton in her speech just can’t help but push the partisan button (she thanked the Dems, Independents and “those Republicans who have seen the light”). I found that condescending and sort of typical. It’s a turn-off. Obama seems to transcend that kind of thing.</p>
<p>I predict and hope for an Obama/Edwards ticket. (I think he would accept the VP slot). And vice-versa.</p>
<p>On another note, Huckabee sure comes across as a sincere, kind man. He’s sort of Jimmy Stewart-slash-Kevin Spacey. Not sure about the Chuck Norris support (he was standing directly behind Huckabee during his speech), though I guess he’s pretty popular.</p>
<p>I know noone’s asking but I’ll still offer it up just the same…Neither Obama, Clinton, or Huckabee will ever be President of the United States.</p>
<p>if no one’s asking, then why offer it up?</p>
<p>Big winners: Obama, Huckabee and McCain
<ul>
<li><p>Huckabee also for obvios reasons, but it’s not at all clear that he will be able to build a national campaign based on this win. </p></li>
<li><p>McCain, because Romney took a licking </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Big losers: Hillary and Mitt</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Hillary, who once looked like the entire primary campaign would be just a victory lap for her, now looks very vulnerable.</p></li>
<li><p>Mitt spent a lot of money and good will only to come out a distant second.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Best campaign strategy: Rudy
<p>Why in the world don’t all of the dwarfs in both parties get out of the race now? Don’t they realize that they are just an impediment to having their party’s ultimate candidates having more air time in debates?</p>
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<p>Um, hubris?</p>
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<p>As a Republican, I hope for that as well. Edwards’ anger and divisive talk is exactly the polar opposite of Obama’s unity message and they would nullify each other.</p>
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<p>I haven’t paid much attention to the debate schedule. Are there more coming up quickly? For both parties?</p>