Friday, December 14, 2007
Huckabamania!!!
This may turn out to be one of the most exciting, unpredictable, presidential races in recent memory.
The respective surges of Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama don't seem to be abating. The former governor has zoomed ahead in South Carolina and, in one poll, Florida as well -- where Rudy Giuliani has fallen into third place (Ron Paul's jump to 11 percent in South Carolina is interesting as well). While that seems to be a reflection of what Huckabee is doing well, Obama is taking advantage of what looks like a meltdown of historic proportions in the Clinton campaign (though the CNN poll still has Hillary leading in SC, other recent surveys have Obama ahead). Getting involved in drugs-and-race story in New Hampshire is most definitely not what HRC was looking for -- as Obama overtakes her in the Granite State.
Hillary has the money and organization to turn this around. But she'd better come up with a better narrative for her campaign -- and soon -- or an increasingly confident Obama may run away with this.
If Huck and Bam actually knock off the favorite, better-known and funded candidates in their respective parties, this election may end up being known as the Revenge of the Bases. The evangelicals feel that they shouldn't have to "settle" for a nominee that they don't trust or shares their values. The liberal base feels that it's time to turn the page from the Clinton years -- and a woman who (in their view) was wrong on the war.
Buckle your seatbelts -- but pass the popcorn. The ride might be bumpy, but you might as well have some munchies!
UPDATE: Pre-postmortems for Hillary? Howard Fineman and Peggy Noonan.
UPDATE II: Dan Balz looks back at the disastrous day in Philadelphia that first threw Hillary off course. RT noted at the time how Gov. Eliot Spitzer's since-abandoned driver's license plan might turn out to be the wild-card derailing Hillary's plans.
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The respective surges of Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama don't seem to be abating. The former governor has zoomed ahead in South Carolina and, in one poll, Florida as well -- where Rudy Giuliani has fallen into third place (Ron Paul's jump to 11 percent in South Carolina is interesting as well). While that seems to be a reflection of what Huckabee is doing well, Obama is taking advantage of what looks like a meltdown of historic proportions in the Clinton campaign (though the CNN poll still has Hillary leading in SC, other recent surveys have Obama ahead). Getting involved in drugs-and-race story in New Hampshire is most definitely not what HRC was looking for -- as Obama overtakes her in the Granite State.
Hillary has the money and organization to turn this around. But she'd better come up with a better narrative for her campaign -- and soon -- or an increasingly confident Obama may run away with this.
If Huck and Bam actually knock off the favorite, better-known and funded candidates in their respective parties, this election may end up being known as the Revenge of the Bases. The evangelicals feel that they shouldn't have to "settle" for a nominee that they don't trust or shares their values. The liberal base feels that it's time to turn the page from the Clinton years -- and a woman who (in their view) was wrong on the war.
Buckle your seatbelts -- but pass the popcorn. The ride might be bumpy, but you might as well have some munchies!
UPDATE: Pre-postmortems for Hillary? Howard Fineman and Peggy Noonan.
UPDATE II: Dan Balz looks back at the disastrous day in Philadelphia that first threw Hillary off course. RT noted at the time how Gov. Eliot Spitzer's since-abandoned driver's license plan might turn out to be the wild-card derailing Hillary's plans.
Labels: Barack Obama, GOP 2008 President, Mike Huckabee
