Rhetorical Question: What do you do?

So, you're greatest political fumble of all time is a little thing called "Katrina." In this debacle, your chosen man failed to get aid to people in a time of emergency and left them hungry and living in squalor. (Say what you will about local authorities dropping the ball, the public perception is the failure was all FEMA's.) This event was a flood, due to a failed levee. And this one event can easily be seen as the turning point when you lost the faith of the American people.

Now, a levee has failed in Iowa and the city is flooded. Nearly an identical situation, from a high-level. So, what do you do?

Apparently, you go for photo ops at tea parties in Europe.

Sigh. Can someone please call up the President and tell him unless he comes home immediately to tour the area, he has extinguished ANY hope for the Republican party to even maintain its numbers in the fall?

Random Thoughts About Iowa

A few random thoughts about the Iowa results. As always, I make no claims about accuracy, or that these are deeply thought out. But here they are for you to react to.

• Watching the victory speeches of Obama and Huckabee, I was stricken again by Barack Obama's rhetorical talent. It completely overshadowed Governor Huckabee, who is a minister who thus practiced his rhetoric weekly in sermons. I am wondering if the victory of Obama will push Republicans toward Romney who appears to be the best speech-given of the Republican field.
• Sean made a great point in a recent comment. Senator Clinton's comments after the loss were not those of a champion knocked down, but those of a conquered foe accepting defeat. That move may do more to doom any comeback in New Hampshire than any attack ad or push poll.
• Rudolph Guiliani is taking a huge gamble by ignoring Iowa and New Hampshire. When we arrive at his states on Super Tuesday, I have a feeling it will feel like the candidacy of Fred Thompson did when he finally announced. Too little, too late. It may work if Huckabee wins New Hampshire, though, as Guiliani will be the clear alternative to an Evangelical tidal wave.
• I really like Fred Thompson's ideas. But he has been talking about John McCain so much of late, that I am quite sure he plans to drop out after New Hampshire and endorse Senator McCain. And I am not sure it will help either of their political futures.
• Why is John Edwards in this race? After watching Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, the only reason to choose Senator Edwards over the others is either (1) he has better hair, or (2) no one else is named John Edwards. Either he has not gotten across his message to me, or this really is about vanity for him.

These are admittedly the fevered ramblings of a blogger, so take them all with a grain of salt. But it appears certain things are becoming clear in the American mind, whether they are true or not.

Obama and Huckabee Victory Speeches from Iowa

I did not stay up to watch the returns come in. If you also chose sleep over political curiosity, then you may be interested to see the victory speeches below.

Barack Obama

I will admit that even though I am *not* a supporter, Obama's speech did give me chills.

Mike Huckabee

I will admit the only thing that really went through my mind during Huckabee's speech is, "I hope if he wins it all he doesn't float the idea of Chuck Norris for VP."

Oh, and apparently Chris Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the race last night as well. No word of any Republicans dropping prior to New Hampshire.

Huckaee, Obama win Iowa

The night is over and the big winners are Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama. This is a huge win for both of them, as it catapults them - at least for the moment - from underdogs into front-runners. Next up is New Hampshire, where it is still anyone's game.

My own prediction is that Huckabee loses New Hampshire, now that the Religious Right has made their statement, but that Obama probably will take it for the Democratic side. The question of the night will be "Can Hillary remain in the race after two major losses?" The answer will be yes.

What do our Mod-Blog readers think? Did the right men win? Or did short-term thinking make Iowans choose wrongly?

The caucusing process

My wife has asked on several occasions over the past couple months what's the difference between a primary and a caucus. Typically we all know how a primary works - it's just like any other election - while a caucus is different. I was sent this link to a fun, clear description of how the Iowa caucus works - it's from hillaryclinton.com. If you want a less biased version of basically the same information here's Wikipedia's explanation.

Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll

It remains to be seen if this is significant, since neither Guiliani nor McCain (nor Thompson) showed up, but CRChair's favorite candidate Mitt Romney won the Iowa straw poll this weekend. It is unclear if the non-appearance of the other candidates was strategic (i.e. Iowa doesn't matter) or tactical (i.e. they knew they couldn't win). But congrats to Mitt.

Romney's win in the nonbinding Ames contest, sealed by his appeals to the party's conservative base and generous spending all around the state, underscored his attempt to concentrate time and resources on the opening states of Iowa and New Hampshire, believing that early victories will propel him to the nomination...Romney's victory came against a relatively weak field that did not include Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona or former senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, and after he heavily outspent those who did compete. Still, the result, with Romney easily outpacing his rivals with 32 percent of the vote, helps elevate him from relative obscurity six months ago to the top tier of the GOP field -- despite his relatively low standing in national polls.

"I think today, the way it worked out, is this is really the defining moment for the base candidate," Romney adviser Tom Rath said. "With Giuliani, McCain and Thompson not here, I would make the argument that this was very definitely a test of who was strong with the base. . . . We think we can expand on that base as the conservative candidate going forward. That keeps us in this game a long time."

As for me, I still do not see a Republican that I know I can vote for, since Guiliani, Gingrich, and McCain have disqualified themselves in my mind.