I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome of the Iowa Caucuses last night, for the Democrats. I, like many others, really thought that Hillary would blow away everyone else easily. I'm sure even she was shocked by her 3rd place finish. The way I see it, Obama has done several things really well in his campaign: 1. He has really encouraged people to get excited about the elections and has brought in a whole new team of voters. I heard that an estimated 40% of voters yesterday were first timers. Of course that includes people who have just become eligible to vote, but a majority of people were those who have never cared before. 2. He has not stooped to the level of nastiness of others. He has taken his critics with a grain of salt and let most things simply slide off his back. For example, early on, Hillary, made the comment that she had not made it a life goal to be president (some think that voters will like someone better who has not had political dreams to be in the white house) unlike that of Obama, who has wanted it since grade school. Upon winning yesterday, he told reporters that "It feels good, just like I thought it would when I was talking to my Kindergarten teacher about being president." I thought that was clever. And 3. He has Oprah on his team. Enough said.
I don't really know what I expected out of the Republican team, but I was surprised that some made such a good showing, Hucklebee and Thompson, for example. I really expected Romney to do well, but Hucklebee gaining 9% points and Thompson coming in 3rd was unexpected. I find it a little humorous that Giuliani received almost no votes, not visiting Iowa, preferring to put his eggs all in the Florida basket. We will see how that works for him in February.
New Hampshire primaries are next Tuesday so we will see if this surprising trend continues. This is only step one in what I think will prove to be a very interesting election year.
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2 comments:
Kim- Welcome to Blog world! I'm excited to be the first to comment on your blog! Great thoughts... Poor little Hillary. I don't know if you heard this, but she said she was going to raise the "heat" on Obama, and he responded the country doesn't need "heat" but "light"... another clever Obama response to her!
Chris and I both really enjoyed your spreadhseet on issues too! Looks like you worked really hard on compiling all of that information. Jim will probably want to know where the Ron Paul sections is! : )
Kim this seems to be shaping up to be a great election. Maybe for the first time in my voting lifespan I will be able to vote for someone I truly believe in and not the lesser of two evils. I love how you seem to be open to every person and not just one specific party. I have always felt that we must search for the right person and sometimes that person is across party lines that is why I have tried to not be a party person and more of a individual voter.
I love all the research that you have done. Does any of this research seem to be pointing you in any one direction? Also, on the chart that you sent it stated that Obama was Church of Christ, but many have ascertained that the conversion was merely political. In your research have you found anything that supports or denies this claim. No, I don't have the answer I am truly asking to learn.
Thank-you for all you have done with this I bet it will be a great place for debate in the very near future.
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