Iowa grumblings

Or why wasn't I invited to appear on Fox News as a pundit.

Well I guess I can chime in with my 2¢ worth on my impressions of what the Iowa caucus means to me.

First off Iowa is not the be all and end all of this presidential race. It is the opinions of a very small group of people, no doubt suffering some sort of PTSD now that the caucuses are over and the candidates have left town quicker then a flim flam artist out of a brothel with the cops coming in the front door.

The candidates showered all kinds of attention and affection on the residents of Iowa, something the rest of us won't get to experience. So what do I think the results mean.

Let's start with the Republicans.

First that Huckabee could turn on the charm and hood wink a bunch of people who vote Christian but not on issues. I wish the Huckster well in life but I hope his train jumps the track now. Every since I started researching what he did as governor and compared it to what he now says you can see the hypocrisy.

See here:

And here:
And here:

Second is Romney. Considering all the money he has spent the results I am sure are not what he expected. He will gain back some momentum when the races shift to the New England states since he is the sort of liberal Republican they like. He should dust this off and continue on. He will certainly be in the race until the Super Tuesday in February.

Third was a basic tie between Fred Thompson and John McCain. Let's take Thompson first. There is no surprise to readers of this blog that I like Fred. A third place showing for somebody who was constantly dogged by the media pursuing the storyline of being lazy or not having a fire in his belly is good. I believe he is the one true conservative candidate who is still viable that is in the race.

As far as McCain. I cannot forgive him for the amnesty debacle he so strongly supported last year. Before that it was always his constant talk of "reaching across the aisle". John every time you extend a hand in friendship to the Dems they slap you in your face.

Now I know you endured quite a bit as a POW so maybe you are conditioned to that sort of behavior. Well I ain't. I am looking for a person of principles not someone in survival mode who will do anything to survive politically.

Now for the Dems.

Barack is riding the crest of a wave right now. His success was due mostly to the other candidates in his party, who not being able to muster enough votes for themselves encouraged their supporters to throw their support behind him. Not even other Dems can stand Hillary.

Second was Edwards or Mr Gloom and Doom. If misery loves company he certainly proves he has plenty of company. I don't get it. Is it that his supporters are such pessimists that they are just attracted to him like moths to a flame? I want my president to look on the bright side of things, you know find the silver lining in the dark clouds. I don't want to be constantly told how miserable I am.

Even growing up, although I came from a family which my parents described as "Working poor" they never made it seem that way. Here is a guy that is one of the main reasons health insurance is so expensive today telling other people that he feels their pain.

Last, and I really do mean last, is Hillary. The presumed heir to the Clinton legacy not only couldn't get any support in the state she spent so much time but she couldn't even get support from within her own party. Her big plans for government that takes care of you from cradle to grave fortunately still hits a sour chord in a lot of people. It may also be that people are tired of the Bush/Clinton stranglehold on the presidency.

It also became apparent to me that while Iowans like to think they are more informed then other voters because of all the time the candidates spend and the media attention and the ads it became apparent that they really aren't.

It is obvious that they took what ever the candidates spoon fed them at public meetings and whatever the ads beamed into their living rooms were saying and spent to much time listening to the professional pundits and accepted it. They did not do much research on their own, something those of us not bombarded had ample opportunity to do.

In other words, they got suckered. I also noticed some blogs last night talking about how the Dems website seemed to work fine but the Republican one was an embarrassment. This to me also points out that the online community is not as big a force in politics as we would like to think.

That is sort of a bitter pill to swallow. There is a lot of good information on the web but apparently the average citizen is still content to let the professional talking heads tell them what they should think in regards to electing a president.
That is the task of those who read, contribute to or otherwise use the web as a resource have to undertake. Somehow we have to get people to come check us out and quit letting the mass market media give them their spin and analysis and come see what other regular people are saying.

I don't know how and I have noticed that most programs on tv are not real helpful in giving out web sites that deal with political issues. Oh sure they will give that web site for that cool gadget or heartwarming story or even some charity but they are real reluctant to promote anything on the web that might analyze their analysis.

So the campaign continues and hopefully all of these top three in each party will continue on until Super Tuesday and then we will have a much clearer picture of not only the mood in the country but also what sells. This campaign is coming down to image versus substance and unfortunately I think image is winning.