Politics Matters Resolution

I pledge to post something each day until Super Tuesday.

Too much is happening in the campaigns to let things fly by anymore.

Too much is at stake in this election.

To get back on track, it seems that my prediction may be coming true regarding the Obama strategy.

In my March 12th blog, I wrote that if Obama played his cards right he could win the anti-war left and the moderate disenchanted middle - giving Clinton no where to go.

This, in my view has come true. This can be evidenced by her constant character attacks and Bill's back handed reference to his candidacy as "rolling the dice" in Sunday's Charlie Rose interview.

They have nothing.
There is no rational for her candidacy except inevitability and dynasty.

The only thing preventing Obama from running away with this nomination is the nagging doubts that the Clinton's are continually creating about his experience and elect -ability.

The only thing holding this 'establishment', DLC-generated message together is that she has intimidated most of the career party wonks into supporting her for fear of losing their jobs if she wins.

This is not the America I want, and this is not the Nominee that America needs.

Andrew Sullivan is right to be enthusiastic about a possible Obama presidency. In the December Atlantic Monthly he wrote "Obama’s candidacy in this sense is a potentially transformational one. Unlike any of the other candidates, he could take America—finally—past the debilitating, self-perpetuating family quarrel of the Baby Boom generation that has long engulfed all of us".

This is the essence of what Obama offers and it contrasts 180 degrees with what Clinton exactly does not.

Is she "tested and ready"? Well, if you look at the last 3 weeks of flailing and disorganized attacks by her campaign you wouldn't think so. In fact, if you hadn't heard it thrown at you through the airwaves continuously since February of this year, you would never use these words to describe her at all.
The reality is that Clinton, as opposed to her husband, is a relatively green and unnatural campaigner and the strains are showing. Rumors of squabbling about strategy. Power struggles between Bill and her other advisors...

Is this the kind of president that we want? Because, like it or not, this is a hint of what it will be like during her presumptive presidency.

Will Iowa have the courage? Will they have the foresight to reject the barrage of conventional wisdom that has been thrown at them all year?

This blogger believes that they will.

This blogger predicts the results of the Iowa caucus as follows:

Obama 35%

Edwards 30%

Clinton 25%

Clinton will finish third. She has not the ground game of Edwards in the small precincts, or the momentum and excitement of Obama. It will not finish her candidacy but it will test her as a campaigner and a leader.

What behavior will we see during that test? Whatever it is it will be another glimpse into what we would truly be electing next year... if she gets that far.