I think the conventional wisdom is that a long primary brawl hurts the Republicans, and the Dems are in better shape because they'll have relative stability. I heard Newt Gingrich say he was not sure that was the case, citing 1992 as a good example. George HW Bush had it sewn up and Bill Clinton had a very messy path to the nomination and was in third place (behind Bush and Perot) in May (maybe June even) in 1992. But then he of course won the whole thing. I don't think a nutty primary process will hurt the Republicans as much as people think. Although if they nominate a nutty candidate that might be a different story. I know some really die hard Republicans who are very dismayed at one or more of the significant GOP candidates.
Bottom line, the pundits can't figure this one out. They'll say as much, but then inevitably go on to to explain what is going to happen in any event.
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I am giving up on listening to any talking heads about how the election is shaping up. I think most of them live in an echo chamber, just inside the beltway, so they are not reliable.
Somehow I just hate to see the Democrats tear away at each other (and thankfully they seem to have stopped for a while). After all, they should just come out and say that any of the Democrats would be better than any of the Republicans. Give us what you believe in, and stand for, and then let the chips fall where they may.
I suppose that is a naive approach, since it has been proven that negativity works in political campaigns. However, I would like it so much to see an entire campaign run that way on all sides.
Everytime I hear the name Huckabee, the old cartoon theme song for Huckleberry Hound goes through my head.
I had to jump in here. I have never been as frightened as I am with the likes of Huckabee. If only he were as benign as Huckleberry Hound.
Also, tryed to get in on the Ella/Sarah chat. Gotta go with Ella though the Blue note trip is very memorable. What birthday was that? I also vote for best recording Cote de Azure
Thanks for posting Sharon. Barb, I agree that it would be great if they could just say what they believe in and let the chips fall. I guess the unfortunate thing is that that seems not to work--I think, e.g., that's what Biden and Dodd did. To his credit, I think McCain did that (we'll see if it holds). He just had a strategy that worked o.k. given his circumstances--wide appeal in quirky New Hampshire which allowed his moribund campaign to figure a way to at least survive until now.
I think if nothing else this messy primary season encourages participation in the democratic process. Whether people have crazy reasons for voting the way they do, at least their voting. Participation in the primaries is exponentially higher than in the recent past. It's about time the American people engage in their government.
People are definitely crazy. I heard someone say he was trying to figure out whether to vote for Obama or Romney. I can't figure out why those would be two alternatives. I think a lot of people make the decision on whether or not they sort of "like" the person, whatever that means.
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