Obummed and Huckabomb more like…

Well no one should be took shocked that McCain took new Hampshire if they were paying attention. Its good to see the pollsters got it so wrong with Obama losing to Clinton. What is more enjoyable is to see that Iowa are just as full of it as many of us thought they were. It would be so wonderful if neither of their choices won the White House. Then maybe they will go the way of Wyoming and no one will give a toss about the state in politics.

How many bloggers and pollsters are looking foolish now because they bought into the Obama hype? Key thing…Obama supporters were young and we all know how lazy young voters are; especially when its bloody cold outside.

BTW they should have listened or read me. I didn’t believe that NH voters were dumb enough to fall for the hype about either Obama or Huckabee.

I finally got the chance to exercise my Constitutional rights and vote in the New Hampshire Primary, 2008 Edition.

When I dropped Beezlebub at the middle school at 6:55 this morning there was already a line of people waiting outside for the polls to open. That’s the first time I’ve seen that in a very long time. Maybe it was the warm January Thaw weather. Maybe it was the two close races Republican and Democrat. Maybe it was a little of both that has turned out a large number of voters.

When I returned to the middle school after work to vote, there was quite a long line waiting to enter the gymnasium, where the voting booths and checklist tables were set up. Once through the door the single line split into four lines, divided alphabetically in order to make it easier for voters to check in and pick up their ballots. Another line that had a large number of people waiting in line was for those wishing to register to vote.

There were a larger number of younger voters than I have seen in a number of years, which pleased me to no end.

New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner expects a record turnout, stating he thought that 500,000 New Hampshire residents would vote today.

Even as I write this WMUR-TV reports that there’s still long lines of voters all throughout the state waiting to cast their ballots before polls close tonight.

Today the presidential hopefuls, Democrats and Republicans both, swept through New Hampshire, spending the last few hours before Tuesday’s New Hampshire Primary campaigning in towns big and small in an effort to garner a few more votes.

Some may have managed to convince a few undecided voters, others may have lost a few.

Democrat John Edwards pulled out all the stops, campaigning non-stop for 36 hours and bringing with him his own celebrities Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon in an effort to bolter his campaign. However a recent WMUR-TV poll shows that his standing haven’t changed since after the debates Saturday night.

Fellow Democrat Bill Richardson spent the day out on New Hampshire’s Seacoast area, walking the streets and visiting a number of businesses.

The rhetoric level has certainly cranked up to high levels, as have the radio and TV ads. In fact almost all of the ads airing on local television are campaign ads. Since I started watching the evening news all but 3 ads have been political ads. The only non-campaign ads I’ve seen on the local TV station so far have been for Bowflex, Verizon, and Pfizer. They stood out because they weren’t campaign ads.

In my home the number of phone calls from the various campaigns peaked some time yesterday and they haven’t leveled off as I write this at 7:50PM Monday night.

Some of the candidates are starting to sound a little desperate. Others aren’t staying here for the voting, having already departed for South Carolina in order to prepare for the primary there as they see their chances for success are better there than in New Hampshire.

It’s not just the candidates making their presence known. The media is here in droves. Dead tree and electronic media from other parts of the country as well as a good number of foreign media are so numerous that it’s hard not to bump into them no matter where you go. It will only get worse on Tuesday.

I can’t wait for Wednesday.

I have to say the two debates were by no means boring.

It became quite evident early on in the Republican debate that Mitt Romney can’t seem to get away from the negative side, slamming John McCain every chance he got. He also slammed some of the other Republican candidates as well. John McCain got in a few good jabs in response, but he kept them to a minimum, trying to focus on the positive. It also appeared the other candidates were gunning for Romney as well, though the rest of the back and forth was, for the most part, cordial.

While I have already made my decision as to which candidate I will vote for on next Tuesday (Fred Thompson), I have to say that Rudi Giuliani impressed me. If he were to win the Republican nomination, I would have no problem voting for him.

The Democrat debate didn’t get quite as negative as the Republican debate, but there were still more than a few pointed barbs thrown by one candidate or another towards Hillary Clinton. It seems to me that they were trying very hard to stay as neutral and as careful as they could, not giving any details about how they would approach this problem or that, unless they were trying to show that they weren’t Hillary. The only issue where they seemed to have detailed plans was for a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, regardless of the consequences. That certainly didn’t fill me with confidence and made it clear that I have nothing in common with them at all.

A poll by WMUR-TV after the debates show that McCain gained on Romney and that Obama may have edged out Clinton.

Now it comes down to the only poll that counts the vote on Tuesday.

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

The debate is being moderated by ABC’s Charlie Gibson and local ABC affiliate WMUR’s Scott Spradling. The debate will last 90 minutes.

The Democrats participating are: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson.

9:03PM EDT The debate will follow the same format as the Republican debate.

What about the greatest threat to America, nuclear terrorism? How aggressive would you be in going after Al Qaeda?

Obama – I would go into western Pakistan after them if we have actionable intelligence. Press Pakistan to go after them. If they don’t, we will. Believe the present administration has not dealt with nuclear proliferation.

Edwards – I agree with Obama as far as going after Al Qaeda. But what should America do about nuclear proliferation and the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan in the long term? Our present ad hoc policy isn’t working. Maybe best way to deal with it is do away with all nuclear weapons.

Richardson Use diplomacy first. Don’t need another action like Iraq. Pakistan is a potential failed state, Musharref hasn’t gone after Al Qaeda in his own country. Will ask him to step aside as president of Paskistan and hold elections.

Clinton Did take action about 10 years ago, sending in cruise missiles in an attempt to take out Bin Laden. Al Qaeda has been able to regroup because we didn’t go after him with enough troops in Afghanistan. With actionable intelligence, we have to be careful otherwise could generate conflict between India and Pakistan. Must be careful about removing Musharref. Must repair failed policies of Bush in Afghanistan.

Richardson US backed the Shah of Iran, which we paid the price for. Must not support dictators at the expense of our foreign relations.

Obama Part of the reason we’ve been ignoring Afghanistan because we were focusing on Iraq. Must also makew sure we have Pakistan’s agreement before we act against Al Qaeda.

9:18PM EDT The next President may have to deal with a nuclear attack. The day after a nuclear weapon goes of in an American city, what would we wish we had done to prevent it and what will we actually do on the day after?

Edwards First, find out who attacked us. Second, it’s the responsibility of the President to be a force for strength and calmness. It would be an enormous mistake to make it worse.

Obama We would have to retaliate. It would be more profound issue if it was a nuclear attack. We must work on nuclear non-proliferation. We should be taking a leadership position.

Clinton First, have a very high level of commitment to eliminate the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The stateless terrorist will have to operate from somewhere. Any state acting as a safe haven for such a group will face heavy retaliation.

Richardson When Secretary of Energy, worked with Russians to secure nuclear weapons. First, secure loose nuclear weapons. Will work with Soviet Union (huh?) to do this. Will not preempt.

89:28PM EDT What does change mean?

Clinton All of us are advocating change, overcoming Republican domination of Washington. There’s a lot of room to ask all of questions about change. Obama could debate himself about change, with his change about health care.

Obama – I have been consistent about health care, but if was designing a health care system from scratch, would set up single payer health care system. Make health insurance mandatory for children. My system is affordable. On Social Security, think the cap should be raised so wealthier pay more into system.

Clinton Obama changed his position many times, saying one thing but voting differently.

Obama – I have been consistent on positions.

Edwards Obama and I have differences, but we agree on a number of issues. Any time anyone speaks out for change, the status quo will attack. We need unfiltered debate about change.

Clinton Making change is not about making speeches, it’s about working hard. Made sure children and National Guard have health.

Richardson Been in hostage negotiations that have been more civil than this debate. What we need is change, no question. Is experience now a leper? What is wrong with having experience in Congress, the Cabinet, as a governor? Experience counts. We need someone with experience in the White House.

Edwards There are entrenched special interests that stand between America and the changes we need. I believe there are differences between us as to what changes are needed.

Obama Help make sure people can self-govern, make sure government is transparent. Make sure that government is responding to their needs.

9:45PM EDT Iraq, there are signs that the surge is working. You were all against it. IS anyone ready to say surge has worked?

Clinton Purpose of surge was to give Iraq government time for political solution. But they have not been doing what they need to do. Sees no reason for troops to remain another day.

Richardson It’s a massive failure. Brings up the total casualties and says there’s no military solution and there’s no political solution in sight. No one is participating in a regional solution. There can be no change unless all our troops come home.

Obama The bar of success has become so low that we’ve lost perspective of what should be our long term goals. We haven’t made ourselves safer in the process. We’re wasting our time, money, and American lives to no purpose.

Edwards It is the responsibility of the President to make policy. I would listen to the military commanders. Will pull 40 to 50 thousand troops in first year of presidency, will end military operations in Iraq, and end the war.

Richardson Cannot leave a small amount of troops or UN peacekeeping to do what the US military has been doing. Must get out of Iraq to take care of our own people.

Clinton In agreement about getting troops home ASAP. Let Iraqis know there’s no more blank check. Has to be done correctly to ensure a safe withdrawal. Will start withdrawal within 60 days of taking office.

9:59PM EDT Scott Spradling now moderating. Asks Clinton about UNH Survey Center’s report that all candidates are qualified to serve, but see Richardson and Obama as agents of change and more likable than you or Edwards.

Clinton It hurts my feelings! I think Obama is quite likable. Bush was a President that everyone wanted to have a beer with, a uniter, not a divider. Americans think that wasn’t the right choice. I think I am an agent of change. I have 35 years of making change.

10:03PM EDT - I revved up Republicans asking about running against you. What’s your response?

Obama – I was going back and forth between Republicans and football. I think that we’ve seen a disaster in both foreign and domestic policy in the past 7 years. But we’re seeing a hunger for a different kind of politics for pushing aside special interests and allowing people back into government.
More transparent government. Regardless of what Republicans are saying, the people have lost confidence in their government, and that Independents and some Republicans will cross over.

10:07PM Is prior executive experience important? Is relative youth?

Richardson – I think executive is very important. I’m the only one with executive experience. I’m the only one that’s negotiated with foreign governments. The only one that’s faced down Saddam Hussein and North Korea. Youth is not.

What about rising fuel prices?

Richardson Both parties have been failing in energy policy. I’ve created oil reserves that helped the Northeast. We need to reduce greenhouse gases by 80% by 2020.

Edwards No. I won’t have any lobbyist or those representing corporate interests in my White House. (Is this the answer to the question?)

Why don’t talk about your 6 years of service in the Senate? what will you do as President?

Edwards Insurance companies are running all over the people. We need a president that will take on the powerful insurance industry. It’s something I did in the Senate. It’s personal to me. I don’t like the idea of lobbyist influencing elected representatives.

Obama – I agree with John on this issue. I’ve seen the costs of the health care system that is broken.

Clinton Can we have a reality break? We’ve got to have a plan for a Patient’s Bill Of Rights. We’ve got to translate talk into action and feelings into reality. (My God! She played the feelings card!) Also brought up Bill’s administration and the changes he made to balance the budget.

Edwards Can’t take lobbyist or PAC money and then stand up to them.

Obama Washington is designed to resist change, but it can be done by making big changes, not incremental changes.

Richardson This is the kind of bickering that turns people off. As a governor I am frustrated every time you guys and the President get nothing done, because the burden is on us. To resolve problems you’ve got to bring people together, to heal this country. You build coalitions, ask the public to make sacrifices, to do something to help the country.

10:30PM EDT Global warming. What about the Carbon Tax. Is it a good idea?

Richardson It’s a bad idea. It’s not a mandate. You want to go after the polluters. It’s better to use a cap and trade system. A carbon tax hurts the consumer.

Obama – I agree a cap and trade system will work better. We fine polluters which will raise billions. (And they won’t pass that on to the consumers?) We should change over to compact fluorescent lights, better insulation on homes.

Clinton Energy costs on families in New Hampshire have tripled since Bush has been in office. Wants to force utilities to become more energy efficient.

10:35PM EDT Are we heading into a recession? What about the Bush tax cuts?

Clinton Set the cap on the tax cuts at $250,000 per family. Wants to fix the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax).

Edwards A few Americans are getting wealthier. The greedy corporations are making too much. Exxon Mobil made $40 billion on profits. American jobs are heading overseas. It will hurt the middle class. We need a different tax policy, a different trade policy.

Obama Proposes an immediate tax cut for middle class making less than $75,000 and would pay for it by closing loopholes in the tax code.

10:40pM EDT - What about the small business owners that are providing payrolls and health insurance that may lose out on the tax policies?

Richardson You’ve got to balance the budget. Line item vetoes. Get rid of corporate welfare. We have to improve our education system.

10:43PM EDT Is there something you’ve said in a debate that you wish you hadn’t said?

Clinton Sure I have. I’ll leave it to the pundits to say what I have or haven’t said.

Richardson – I was asked who my favorite Supreme Court Justice. I then asked Dead or alive? Justice White…and then I found out he was against Roe vs. Wade and against civil rights. So that wasn’t a good one.

Edwards – I made fun of Senator Clinton’s jacket.

Obama – I made a few.

The debate is being moderated by ABC’s Charlie Gibson and local ABC affiliate WMUR’s Scott Spradling, with each party’s debate lasting 90 minutes.

At one point it looked like one of the major Republican candidates wouldn’t be participating. Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, had not originally been invited. There had been some controversy about Paul’s exclusion, as there has been about Dennis Kucinich’s exclusion from the Democratic debate. But Paul made the cut while Kucinich is still excluded.

The Republicans participating are: Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul.

7:00PM EDT Charlie Gibson explains the format of the debate. First, no podiums. They’ll all be sitting down in a semi-circle. Second, it will be more freeform, with no timers. The candidates will address each other. Third, the candidates will be taking questions from viewers via Facebook. you can join the debate by going here.

7:10PM EDT The first question was about foreign policy, particularly in relation to the Bush doctrine. Was it arrogant?

Huckabee Will make sure that the US is secure and that we will use our strength only when necessary.

Thompson – says that Huckabee has changed his tune, but understands that we are in a global war. Says that we weren’t arrogant going into Afghanistan, but were going into Iraq with inadequate troops levels.

Giuliani Thinks that necessary changes were made, but mistakes were made. Military is too small, need to add 10 brigades to army and 300 ship navy.

McCain America is not safe, but it is much safer. Thought we went into Iraq without enough troops. Thinks we have more challenges ahead of us and gives Giuliani a lot of credit for his actions during 9/11.

Paul Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war is wrong. Thinks no Third World nation is any danger to us.

Romney Slams Paul about his lack of understanding about the motivations of radical Islam. Believes Bush did the right thing going into Afghanistan and Iraq.

Thompson Responded to the question of pre-emptive war, saying that the old ways of doing things won’t work, bringing up the possibility of biological or chemical attacks by radical militant Islamists. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) doesn’t work. Giuliani agreed.

Huckabee Actually called the radical Islamists Islamofascists.

Giuliani – Thinks we should make sure to help moderate Islamic governments.

7:35PM EDT What about your principles and philosophies and do you change them according to opinion polls?

McCain Haven’t changed since he raised his hand at the US Naval Academy. Has been steadfast and knew the Surge was needed to succeed in Iraq.

Romney Concerned about America and knows were are a great nation because of our principles. Thinks our families are our strength.

Giuliani Know what you believe! Says President Bush was right that politicians that change with opinion polls are weak, that we must stand by our principles.

Charlie Gibson brought up points that all of the candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, have changed their viewpoints.

Huckabee and Thompson Both agree that all Presidents have their wish lists. Both agree that policies must change as situations change, but stick by your principles and your plans.

Paul Slammed anything that was not delineated in the Constitution.

7:43PM EDT Health care. US doesn’t insure all it’s citizens. Why not?

Giuliani US has best health care in the world. To do as other nations have, going to socialized medicine, would destroy the quality of our health care. If we socialized medicine, where will the Canadians go for health care? Health care should be free market.

McCain Health care costs are going up far faster than inflation. Health care should be outcome based, should be more free market. Give incentives to treat patients and make them well. No incentives to hold costs down now.

Romney Implemented mandatory health insurance in Massachusetts and state would help individuals pay for health insurance. Don’t need Hillarycare.

Paul Should not be spending trillions on war. Could spend it on health care.

Thompson Best health care in the world but costs more than it should. Government take it over? No. Should be more free market to drive down costs. Some without insurance chose not to have it.

Romney – I like mandates! Force everyone to have health care insurance or force uninsured to pay.

Huckabee We don’t have a health care system, we have a disease care system. It’s all upside down. Too much health care costs go to treat chronic diseases rather than prevention.

8:04PM EDT Now using timed responses. Scott Spradling moderating: Path to citizenship?

McCain Illegal immigration a problem. Have to secure borders before going after illegal immigrants Use electronic status verification for immigrant workers, use guest worker program.

Romney Disagrees that the existing illegal immigrants should be deported. No amnesty. Should wait in line like everyone else wanting to come to America. Unfair to those wanting to immigrate.

Giuliani Should secure border. Require identification before entering country. Tamper proof Ids for guest workers. Deport illegal immigrants that have committed crimes. If illegals will register they can stay. If not, will be deported. Immigrants will have to learn and speak English if they want to become citizens.

McCain Did not advocate amnesty, despite claims by Romney.

I thought that McCain and Romney were going to come to blows about illegal immigration.

Thompson Enforcement by attrition by securing borders and stopping further illegal immigration, ensuring immigrant workers are legal, do away with sanctuary cities. It’s a national security issue.

Huckabee Americans are upset about illegal immigration. Must secure borders. Agree with Thompson that it’s a national security issue.

Paul Tamper proof ID’s for immigrants is a back door to national ID’s. A bad idea. Get rid of the incentives to immigrate illegally to the US.

Romney All candidates are in favor of legal immigration.

8:24PM EDT Assuming Obama is the nominee, why should voters not vote for him?

Romney Pushing some kind of socialized medicine, a bad idea. He wants change, but what kind of change?

Thompson Has adopted position of every liberal group, his first answer to every problem is the federal government. Should remember the idea of federalism, that the government is usually the problem, not the answer.

McCain Agrees Romney is candidate of change. Believes that Obama is too weak on foreign policy and doesn’t have the experience.

Giuliani Obama would require too much on the job training during a time of war.

Huckabee Thinks Obama would raise taxes, weaken the military, and encourage our enemies.

Paul Obama and I are alike in some ways. Spoke out against the war like I did. Younger voters like us both. But won’t deal with monetary policy and taxes, will push welfare state.

8:33PM EDT What about gas prices? Aren’t they going to go higher?

Paul Look at price of oil related to value of dollar, euro, and gold.

McCain Thinks we need to wean ourselves off of oil.

8:35PM EDT - What bout oil company profits?

Thompson No windfall profits tax, the price is what the price is. It’s bought on open market and economies of China and India are growing and increasing demand for oil. It’s a free market.

Giuliani Must work on energy independence. Nuclear, wind, solar, other technologies. Must work on it like the Apollo program.

Huckabee Possible to be energy independent in 10 years. Provide incentives to innovate, don’t tax them.

Romney Need to do it. Maybe not in 10 years, but must be done.

8:42PM EDT Democratic candidates joined the Republicans on stage.

The seats in the various caucus precincts in Iowa had barely gone cold when the remaining presidential candidates were boarding their private jets and winging their way to New Hampshire. Most had arrived in the wee hours of the morning. John McCain was already here, deciding to remain in New Hampshire to campaign rather then spending another day in Iowa.

All of the candidates hit the ground running, either basking in the results from Iowa and hoping for a boost in their poll numbers or trying to make up for their less than stellar showing in the Iowa contest.

To say that there’s going to be intense campaigning between now and Tuesday would be understating the case. While many of the TV networks had crews spread throughout Iowa, the networks have their news anchors here in the Granite State, running their nightly news broadcasts from sets in Manchester or elsewhere in the state.

The next four days will be interesting, with so much campaigning be crammed into a very short amount of time. If we aren’t tripping over candidates stumping for our votes, will be bumping into the media covering them. To quote Bette Davis, Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.

Indeed it will.

While I haven’t covered the campaigns in my usual fashion, I will attempt to add a few insights about the candidates and the issues over the next few days. I admit to a large amount of campaign fatigue, having put up with visits from presidential wannabes for the past 13 months. It’s been a long road already and there’s still another 11 months to go before the big election in November.

For those of us that are not as insular as many in Iowa; including incompetent debate hosts, the events in Pakistan will hopefully remind American primary voters that foreign affairs is an important issue. With any luck this will further hole Huckebee’s run for the nomination. The man not only has no experience he clearly shows incompetence when it comes to matters other than domestic.

These events might also affect Obama who is likewise fairly naive when it comes to foreign affairs. Not, of course, that any of the major candidates for the Democratic nomination are experienced in foreign matters. Hilary Clinton being the wife of the President does not really count not matter how much she claims it does.

For an English perspective; Dan Hamilton has written his take on the first in the nation primaries.

As we quickly rush towards the two first primaries in the US; its time to being thinking again about who you want to win the nomination. I have been writing about a few pieces about Republican candidates I am not keen on. Its about time I reminded you who I support in the primaries. I am one of those who thinks that Fred Thompson would be the best bet for the Republicans. That is why I am happy to participate in the Blogburst for Fred.

New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner has finally set the date for the New Hampshire primary: January 8th, 2008.

It’s about time.

Who is the most powerful man in America?

Some might say it’s George W. Bush. Others, Dick Cheney. Some might point to financial mavens like Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, or Rupert Murdoch. Yet others like Bill Gates.

But who is really the most powerful man in America? Would you believe New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner?

Bill who?

That’s the reaction of many people outside of New Hampshire when they hear his name.

But what is it that makes Bill Gardner such a powerful person once every four years? It’s quite simple, really: he sets the date for the New Hampshire Primary.

He’s the seemingly always blushing guy who sits in a tiny, paper-messy, barren-walled office in a small corner of the State House. He’s a wide-eyed, aw-shucks guy who loves raising chickens and, at 58, playing basketball with his brothers and watching the Patriots and Red Sox. At first, he comes across as a grown up Opie Taylor—“never a tough guy,” according to his thumbnail in the 1966 Bishop Bradley High School yearbook.

Well, he may not look tough. But when it comes to the New Hampshire primary, America, don’t mess with Bill.

Gardner has those who would be President, their high-paid consultants, network executives and nationally-known political writers and pundits hanging on his every utterance, as rambling and imprecise as they sometimes can be.

[...]

But Gardner says nothing he does is more important than protecting the “tradition” of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. As Secretary of State since 1976, he has stared down powerful political party leaders and legislatures and governors in other states who have been determined to end the first-by-a-week tradition and grab the national spotlight for themselves.

Does he bask in the limelight he finds himself in every four years? Not from what we’ve seen up here. And that makes him very different from many public servants.

It appears I’m not the only one thinking that he severe compression of the presidential primary schedule is a big mistake.

The way things are going, the first votes in the 2008 Presidential election may yet be cast in 2007, more than 10 months before the national elections next November. This is not an improvement.

[...]

...this process is both too long and too constricted. It is too long in the sense that it starts the Presidential race more than two years before the actual vote. This shrinks the time for actual “governing,” to the extent this still happens in Washington, with Senators like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden having to calibrate every utterance for its impact on their nomination chances. This has only made it harder this year for the parties to find any bipartisan common ground on Iraq, for example. Then once the nominees are all but picked next year on February 5, we will have another long 10 months of campaigning before November. No wonder the political pros call this “the permanent campaign.”

But the process is also too constricted, because once the primary voting starts, it will be over in a flash. This makes it harder for a dark horse candidate to break through; even with an early victory, it might be too late to raise enough money to compete in the fast-following giant states.

It also gives Americans less chance to scrutinize the nominees once the actual balloting begins. Sure, voters may know the names of most of those who are running, but average, rational citizens lack the time or interest to focus until an election is nigh. A nominating primary gantlet of three to four weeks is the political equivalent of a blur. This means that crucial facts about a candidate’s experience and character may not be discovered until he has already wrapped up the nomination.

‘Nuff said.

Yes, I’ve been remiss in posting anything about the ongoing campaigns of the presidential hopefuls. Honestly, it was on purpose. Until now I’ve believed it was too darn early to start commenting upon the various candidates seeking the highest office in the US. Nothing that’s happened earlier in the year has really meant anything to anyone’s chances for the nomination by their respective political parties. It mostly been meaningless noise…except of course to those actually making that noise. What’s worse is that the noise has affected too many of political Illuminati in the various states, causing them to take actions that will have unintended effects.

It’s really starting to wear me down.

The constant jockeying for each state to have their primary/caucus/convention before every other has now gone past ridiculous: Wyoming Republicans have announced they will be holding their nominating convention on January 5^th, 2008.

This means that both Iowa and New Hampshire will be forced by their state laws to move their contests to sometime in December of this year. It’s insane.

The ever-changing contest schedule—and the earlier start to the balloting—has created an enormous level of discomfort for national parties trying to impose discipline on the states as well as presidential campaigns trying to figure out strategies when voting could begin in just four months.

As a deterrence, the Republican National Committee insists they will penalize states that schedule nominating contests before Feb. 5 by withholding delegates to the conventions next summer.

As if that has deterred states from scheduling their contests earlier. So far Florida hasn’t caved to the DNC’s demand that they change their date or forfeit their delegates at the Democratic Convention next summer. Will Wyoming’s Republican’s give in to the RNC’s demands?

If this type of madness continues, all that will happen is a weakening of the nomination process to the point where it will become meaningless. Presidential campaigns will start the day after the President takes the Oath of Office. Campaigns will be never ending and, quite possibly, the people will stop paying any attention to them.

I’m almost tempted to suggest that perhaps, this time around, both Iowa and New Hampshire sit this one out and let the rest of the friggin’ loonies duke it out and show everyone how stupid the states’ party committees have become. By compressing the schedule with heavy front loading all these idiots have done is to limit such campaigns to only the wealthy. The problem with that is that far too often the wealthy haven’t got a clue about what the American people want or need (look at John Kerry’s presidential run in 2004 as an example). The candidates with real ideas and true integrity may not have the ability to run because they don’t have money to play in the big leagues with the rest of the well-funded, if less than acceptable, candidates.

This has got to stop.

Senator John McCain (R AZ) made it official today:

He’s running for the Republican presidential nomination.

In a speech in the first-in-the-nation primary state, McCain stressed the wisdom he’s acquired over time rather than the decades as he sought to make the case that he’s the most qualified to succeed President George W. Bush amid challenges at home and abroad.

[...]

The announcement, seven years after he lost the GOP nomination to George W. Bush, was no surprise; McCain’s intentions have long been clear as he has spent months campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and elsewhere.

McCain has been spending every spare moment drumming up support for his candidacy, courting GOP conservatives in an effort to prove that he is exactly who they need in order to keep the White House.

Mostly the idea has been bandied about on the blogosphere. A number of conservative blogs picked up the idea and ran with it, including mine (scroll down to the next to the last paragraph). More than a few people I’ve talked to about the idea said it was a non-starter, that it was too late to get involved. Even one of the local radio shows on which I appear as a guest from time to time thought it wasn’t all that great an idea. But now the MSM is taking notice and maybe the idea isn’t as crazy as some folks first thought. What is this idea?

Fred Thompson running for President.

Some of you may ask Who the hell is Fred Thompson?

He was a US Senator, representing Tennessee. He was also a US Attorney prior to becoming a Senator. At present he is an actor, playing New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law & Order. He also fills in from time to time for Paul Harvey on his radio show. He may also be the last best hope for the GOP in 2008.

Not enough “star” power for Fred Thompson in a GOP presidential field that includes some of his friends? Whatever the case, the actor and former Tennessee senator is considering getting into the 2008 race.

Thompson, who plays district attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s drama “Law & Order,” said Sunday, “I’m giving some thought to it, going to leave the door open” and decide in the coming months. “It’s not really a reflection on the current field at all,” he said.

Thompson, 64, said he was pondering a run after former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and other Tennessee Republicans began drumming up support for his possible GOP candidacy, citing his conservative credentials.

Even though he hasn’t decided whether he will run, it appears he has a lot of people pulling for him. In my opinion, should he decide to run, funding for his campaign may not be as difficult to find as has been the case with some candidates from either political party.

Some of you may be thinking What the hell does an actor know about being President? Need I remind you that one of our greatest Presidents in the latter half of the 20^th Century was an actor?

The next few months are going to be interesting.

The first announced candidate in the 2008 presidential race was also the first casualty.

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced that he is dropping out of the race. He cited his lack funding, making it impossible to continue his campaign.

The first of many has fallen.

No, not permanently just for a few days as we attend the New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Concord. I will be chatting to several of my guests on the Lagwolf & Co show. Jason and I will be doing some interviews that will probably end up in a podcast version of the Lagwolf & Co/Dodging Reality show sometime late this weekend or early next week. It will be interesting to see NH in the snow, especially for my beloved who has graciously agreed to come along for the ride. I shall be taking my laptop so there might even be a periodic update or two.

I am guessing they will do a better job with passes/identification than the Tory Party did last time in Bournemouth.

A few bit of politics. First of all one of BBC discussion about tax-payers oversight of spending in their regional organisation. Kudos from me for banging on about how they giving loads of money to bloody football clubs in rather taking the piss.

And there is, of course, there row about the outing of Guido Fawkes and the resulting fallout. Iain has called for the “wars” to cease althought I think its highly unlikely his request will be headed with the MSM (as well as Tom Watson & Tim Ireland) stoking the flames with all their might to discredit bloggers. Slugger O’Toole has waded in with a well thought-out piece on our alledged wickedness. Guido naturally has responded in his normal nonchalant way and more power to him.

Of course, YAB is on about how blogs are hurting democracy and we are all bores. YAB is a big defender of the tiny ruling clique/MSM that sit in London and pontificate not bothering a toss for what is actually happening in the real world. Her type are threatened by bloggers who cut through the crap and get down to brash tacks. Too bad the BBC gave her another chance to peddle her bile yesterday.

Oh and for a bit of fun check out this video. Remember every time you eat pork you annoy an Islamist.

Latest Republican straw poll is below, alas they still have not managed to put Ron Paul in their list.

After a delay due to a death in the family, Hillary Clinton is paying her first visit to New Hampshire in ten years. This is considered her first big move for her presidential campaign.

Senator Clinton will spend time in the northern New Hampshire city of Berlin, an area hit hard by the closure of one of its major employers, a paper mill, and a series of fires that has left a number of businesses damaged and homes destroyed.

Clinton has vowed to visit New Hampshire often over the next 11 months, leading up to the New Hampshire primary sometime in January 2008.

The list of Democratic Presidential candidates is getting longer, with the announcement by Senator Chris Dodd (D CT) that he is running. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is expected to be the next to officially announce his candidacy, though his staff has said that he will run.

On the Republican side, it appears that former Senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson may be testing the waters for a presidential run.

America once elected a president whose resume included stints as an elected official, an actor and a radio commentator – twice, actually, the second time in a landslide. It’s not impossible that they could have the chance to do so again.

(H/T Bill Hobbs)

UPDATE: We can now add the name of Hillary Clinton to the list of candidates seeking the 2008 Democratic nomination.

Barack Obama looks as if he’s going to run for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, even thought he hasn’t actually come out and said so. But he certainly is sounding like a candidate.

During his much-publicized “Obama-mania” visit on Dec. 10, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama looked, acted and sounded like a Presidential candidate when he spoke to 1,500 people at a state Democratic Party rally in downtown Manchester, [NH].

So it was no surprise to New Hampshire yesterday that Obama announced the formation of an exploratory committee to raise money in preparation for a Presidential run.

Officially, he is not a candidate, but his point man in New Hampshire says it’s just a formality.

“I think today was the first step toward an official candidacy,” said lobbyist Jim Demers, a former state representative, who said he expects to be an unpaid volunteer for Obama in the First-in-the-Nation Primary state.

It’s also been reported that Obama has pulled even with Hillary Clinton amongst likely New Hampshire Democratic voters.

The field is starting to fill out here in New Hampshire as more potential candidates contemplate a run for the White House.

What is it that truly signals the start of the campaign for the 2008 Presidential hopefuls?

While many would say that it’s the numerous visits by as of yet undeclared candidates or the creation of exploratory committees or the actual declarations by many of those same candidates, it turns out it isn’t the case.

The single most telling event that shows us that the campaigns are starting in earnest is the announcement that CNN, WMUR-TV (Manchester, NH), and the Union Leader newspaper (Manchester, NH) will be hosting two debates for candidates over two nights, with the hopefuls of one party debating on the first night, April 4th, and those of the other on the night after, April 5th.

The home of the First Primary in the nation will also be the home of the First Debate.

CNN, WMUR and The New Hampshire Union Leader will hold the back-to-back debates on April 4 and 5, the first such events to be held of the 2008 presidential campaign. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer will moderate the debates with questions coming from WMUR’s Scott Spradling and Union-Leader’s John DiStaso. WMUR’s Jennifer Vaughn will be moderating questions from the audience. The debate will be televised live nationally on CNN and throughout New Hampshire on WMUR.

Once again New Hampshire will be the focus of the nation as the 2008 campaign season begins.

The buzz about former Senator John Edwards announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination appears underwhelming.

Edwards, also the former Vice Presidential Democratic candidate in 2004, announced his candidacy in New Orleans the other day. While the news media covered the announcement, it didn’t receive the breadth of coverage that other announcements have, including that of Tom Vilsack and reports of exploratory committees or consultancies of Republican hopefuls George Pataki, John McCain, and Rudi Guiliani.

It’s too early to predict whether the low key response to Edwards’ announcement while have any effect on his chances in 2008, but in New Hampshire the response so far seems to be So what!

Another possible presidential candidate has decided that he won’t run.

Senator Evan Bayh (D IN), has announced that he will not seek the 2008 Democratic nomination. A number of other Democratic candidates have been making moves towards their decisions whether to run or not by starting exploratory committees, including former North Carolina Senator and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards.

Bayh is the third Democrat to announce that he wouldn’t seek the 2008 nomination.

Senator Barak Obama (D IL) makes his first visit to New Hampshire today. While he has not said that he will run for the Democratic nomination for President, he’s certainly making moves as if he is a contender.

The popular freshman Senator will be speaking in Manchester today to the state’s Democrats.

Should Obama decide to run, it is expected to weaken Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D- NY) bid for the White House. Though neither Obama or Clinton have said they will run in the 2008 race, many political insiders say the chances are better than even that one or both will declare soon.

In this blogger’s opinion, Obama’s chances for the 2008 nomination may not be as strong as many think, particularly with the front-loaded primary/caucus schedule. Unless he can raise a large amount of funds for a campaign, he will be at a distinct disadvantage compared to Hillary Clinton due to her large campaign fund. The front-loaded schedule gives any underfunded candidate a huge disadvantage because retail face-to-face campaigning will be impossible due to the tight schedule. Such campaigning has always helped candidates that may have been at a financial disadvantage, giving them more face recognition and a chance to let the voters know where they stand on the issues of the day. With campaigning being reduced to sound bites and ad blitzes, the candidate with the most money will be the one the voters will hear from. The other candidates will be drowned out, even if they have a better message and better ideas.

You know it’s getting bad when even staunch Democrats are criticizing the DNC for its decisions in regards to the upcoming 2008 Presidential Primary schedule.

Changes in the process made by the DNC has forced more front loading of the primary schedule, which in turn will seriously cripple that process by giving an even bigger advantage to the wealthier, more well financed candidates.

“If the DNC had any real courage, if (DNC Chairman) Howard Dean really wanted to solve the problem, he would stand up to Michigan, he would stand up to California, he would stand up to Florida and say, ‘No, you’ve got to go further back in the process so that all states are important,’” [New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy] Sullivan said. “He hasn’t done that, the DNC hasn’t done that. Frankly, I’m a little bit fed up with the DNC at this point and how they’ve addressed this.”

Incentives offered by the DNC to larger states in an effort to get the larger states to push back their primaries may not work, according to New Hampshire State Republicans.

“We had a rule like that in the (Republican National Committee) maybe three cycles ago,” New Hampshire RNC committee member Tom Rath said. “Everybody said, ‘We don’t need the delegates. What we want is to participate in a meaningful way in the process.’”

I’m not sure how the DNC will be able to promote something that has been proven not to work, unless somehow they’ve taken up an attitude of Just because they couldn’t make it work doesn’t mean that we can’t. They are intent on proving the saying Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting the results to be different this time.

It seems that far too often the DNC chooses to overlook a major factor when making some of their policies, that factor being human nature. (I’m not saying the RNC doesn’t do that, too. But they aren’t doing it this time.) The various states will do what is to their advantage, regardless of the incentives to do otherwise.

Unless the DNC decides to step up and tell the larger states ‘Back off!’, the primary schedule will become skewed and there will be a huge gap between the last primary and the party convention. That rarely works well under any circumstances. All one needs to do is look at the 2004 campaign as an example John Kerry ended up with the nomination when he was the worst possible candidate the Democrats could have chosen. Kerry’s advantage was the large campaign war chest he had, much of it his wife’s money. He bought his way into the nomination, something made possible by the front loaded primary schedule. Better candidates were crushed by his financial superiority. That’s no way to choose a possible president.

Iowa governor Tom Vilsack made it official Thursday – he’s a candidate for President for the 2008 election.

He made the announcement in his home state of Iowa earlier in the day and then flew to New Hampshire to speak with Granite State Democrats.

Less than a month after the mid-term elections and the campaigning has already started up again.

As presidential hopeful John Edwards makes the rounds in an effort to drum up support, he has yet again shot himself in the foot.

The supporter of a number of anti-WalMart watchdog groups, most of which are organs of organized labor, first tripped up when a staffer tried to conjole WalMart in to making sure that Edwards got one of the few Sony Playstation 3’s.

In an effort to show his disdain of the international retailer, Edwards scheduled a book signing in a Barnes & Noble in Manchester, NH. This particular B & N is located in front of a WalMart. So how is this a mis-step by Edwards?

“Wal-Mart makes plenty of money. They need to pay their people well,” Edwards said at a Pittsburgh anti-Wal-Mart rally in August.

So naturally Edwards is holding his book signing at Barnes & Noble instead of Wal-Mart. Which is too bad for his anti-low-wages campaign, because in Manchester Wal-Mart pays hourly employees more than Barnes & Noble does.

The Barnes & Noble where Edwards will hawk his book pays $7 an hour to start. The Wal-Mart that sits just yards away pays $7.50 an hour.

Oh, the humanity!

So the presidential wannabe that has it in for WalMart because he believes that it doesn’t pay its employees a fair wage instead patronizes a national retailer that pays its employees less than WalMart.

The celebrations by newly elected Democrats has barely subsided and already the 2008 presidential hopefuls are hitting the campaign trail.

Two candidates have announced that they are running Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa) and Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA). I expect to be seeing them in New Hampshire any day now, along with ever growing multitude of the non-declared and undecided wannabes.

And here it is you thought it was all over…..

Though he hasn’t announced whether he will run for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, that hasn’t stopped former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani from acting like a candidate.

Giuliani was in New Hampshire yesterday to drum up support for Republican incumbent Second District Congressman Charlie Bass. With the race too close to call, candidates, including Bass, have called out the big guns, with Giuliani being one of the biggest.

Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain are considered by many as the leading Republican contenders for the 2008 presidential race.