"Change"
The main thing that comes through clearly from last night's caucuses is that the majority of the country fervently wants change after seven years of George Bush.
Starting with the GOP, the mainstream GOP, the segment that still approves of Bush, just can't get excited about anything at this point, but the "fringes," those who don't approve of George Bush came out in force.
The decisive Huckabee win definitively marks a moment of empowerment/rage by the Christian right who are seizing on the weakness of the mainline GOP to claim their space at the table.
But I don't think we should view these results through only that prism. Ron Paul (Ron Paul!) pulled 10% from a constituency which, although smaller, is perhaps more passionately anti-Bush/GOP.
Effectively, half of the GOP caucusgoers rejected the mainline candidates and positions of their party.
On the Dem side, the desire for "change" from this administration is overwhelming everything else, and for whatever reason, Obama has become the embodiment of that desire.
How does Clinton combat that? You can argue that her positions are better or that her experience is valuable, but in the end, she's found herself on the wrong side of that overwhelming Dem desire for change, and reversing that in a month will be a very difficult task.
The other real question going forward is whether the Edwards voters, which will become available as his campaign dissembles, want the traditional Dem in Clinton who is talking specifically about their issues, or whether they too were driven to Edwards by his different flavor of "change."
Obviously, Iowa's only one primary in a small state that has historically not ended up supporting the eventual winners, but I'm struck by the "change" message out of Iowa.
We're no longer a country that appears with torches and pitchforks outside the castles of our leaders to voice our displeasure, but in its own way, that was the message out of Iowa. Whether it was the Evangelicals, the Paulites, or the legions of new supporters who showed up at the Dem caucuses, they were all expressing a very passionate desire for "change."
Now if only someone can only figure out what that word means.
Starting with the GOP, the mainstream GOP, the segment that still approves of Bush, just can't get excited about anything at this point, but the "fringes," those who don't approve of George Bush came out in force.
The decisive Huckabee win definitively marks a moment of empowerment/rage by the Christian right who are seizing on the weakness of the mainline GOP to claim their space at the table.
But I don't think we should view these results through only that prism. Ron Paul (Ron Paul!) pulled 10% from a constituency which, although smaller, is perhaps more passionately anti-Bush/GOP.
Effectively, half of the GOP caucusgoers rejected the mainline candidates and positions of their party.
On the Dem side, the desire for "change" from this administration is overwhelming everything else, and for whatever reason, Obama has become the embodiment of that desire.
How does Clinton combat that? You can argue that her positions are better or that her experience is valuable, but in the end, she's found herself on the wrong side of that overwhelming Dem desire for change, and reversing that in a month will be a very difficult task.
The other real question going forward is whether the Edwards voters, which will become available as his campaign dissembles, want the traditional Dem in Clinton who is talking specifically about their issues, or whether they too were driven to Edwards by his different flavor of "change."
Obviously, Iowa's only one primary in a small state that has historically not ended up supporting the eventual winners, but I'm struck by the "change" message out of Iowa.
We're no longer a country that appears with torches and pitchforks outside the castles of our leaders to voice our displeasure, but in its own way, that was the message out of Iowa. Whether it was the Evangelicals, the Paulites, or the legions of new supporters who showed up at the Dem caucuses, they were all expressing a very passionate desire for "change."
Now if only someone can only figure out what that word means.
posted by mikevotes at
1:57 PM
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