Tuesday, January 29, 2008

In with the new, out with the old.

So I'm pretty sure that nobody really paid attention to the State of the Union, because for everyone except our marathon runner, Bush, we're ready to move on.

For the Republican nominee - Today was a big day.
If exit polls are correct, Rudy Giuliani's campaign is over. Which is probably good because true, he did stand strong and courageous during the 2001 September 11 bombings, but a lot has happened since then.
Also, projected polling [44 precints] shows from today's primary that John McCain has 35% of the vote, and Mitt Rommey 32%. Giuliani and Huckabee were left in the dust, struggling to stay in the game. The winner in Florida's Republican-only primary will receive all 57 delegates.

For the Democrats -
Yay for Hillary, she won in the Florida Primary. But, too bad, there weren't any delegate votes to win there. As Obama described it as a "beauty contest" primary, he's pretty much right. No Democratic candidates campaigned there, but Hillary still showed up for some allowed fundraisers on Sunday. Interesting, no?

But what now?

Hillary has the leading edge becuase she has lead in the big states, national lead, delegate lead (for now), the brains, the money, the experience, and the popular husband, but is that enough?
Obama has the endorsements, from not one, but both Kennedy's, youth, great charisma, and a great rush of support around the nation and especially among recent primaries.

Only time will tell..

10 comments:

Kelsey said...

I think it will be a big deal if Hilary wins Florida becuase Obama seemed to be on a winning streak and this win will put a stop on that. as for the Republicans, its about time for Giuliani's campaign to be over...he was just dying slowly. It wil be interesting to see who comes out on top from florida.

Keith Chin said...

Winning the Florida elections may not give her any delegates, but it seems like it would help to show what popular opinion thinks. Of course, since no one else campaigned there, it probably doesn't really show anything concrete. Maybe her campaigning will help her during the general elections, supposing she wins the primaries anyway.

Noelle said...

Hillary did win Florida and now she's petitioning within the Democratic Convention to have Florida's delegates count [after the election] that the committee already removed because of Florida's early primary insistence.. but that wouldn't be so fair, now would it!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jO4Q2VPqSdvlOGMYqFXwzcIdNRWQD8UFTKC80

William Chen said...

The struggle between Hilary and Obama is just like the upcoming Superbowl: whoever makes the least mistakes and executes will win. Sure, Hilary is the favorite (Patriots), with the knowledge (Bill Belichick), experience (Tom Brady), and a popular and well-known supporting cast (Randy Moss, Junior Seau, Richard Seymour etc.). Obama is the underdog (Giants), with the youth (Eli Manning), charisma (Plaxico Burress), and the rush of support (Giants #1 pass rush defense in NFL).

However, we all know how fast things change in the treacherous waters of American politics. Recently, Obama claimed South Carolina when polls clearly said that Hilary was a shoo-in for that primary. So really, the current factors for each candidate are not the deciding ones. The deciding factor will be who slips up first and the most between now and the election. Mistakes are what costs candidates their goal.

So even though Hilary (Patriots) is the favorite (by 12.5), that doesn't mean that Obama (Giants) will not show up on election day (Superbowl) and win the nomination (Lombardi Trophy). Upsets happen, largely because of costly mistakes and bad management (49ers).

Kristina McOmber said...

Giuliani will officially drop out tomorrow and endorse McCain.
By the way, I love the side commentary in your posts, Noelle.

Anonymous said...

Will Chen that analogy is pure genius. You should write a book.

Scott Silton said...

Obama and Clinton have different visions for what being President should be about. Obama sees the job more as a national coach (cynics would say cheerleader) and Clinton more as national General Manager (cynics would say owner).

Mistakes in politics are like turnovers or unforced errors. However, playing tentative to avoid errors can limit your offensive effectiveness.

William, with your permission I would like to send a link of your post to a couple of pro political bloggers who write often about sports. That was pretty cool. However, Clinton has made a few mistakes along the way and certainly cannot claim an undefeated season like the Pats. I'm also unclear as to how to account for her institutional base of support in the party... maybe that is analogous to the bandwagon effect, as in, people jumped on the Clinton bandwagon when it looked like she had a clear path to the nomination, and it is awkward for them to change course now that an interesting alternative has emerged.

Derek Lee said...

Almost everyone agrees that the next president will be a democrat due to the poor performance of President Bush. Mistakes may be their downfall, but like Mr. Silton said, playing the game too tentatively will also result in a loss. This can be seen in some of the recent debates Obama has been a part of. Obama has been criticized in the past for not being aggressive enough in his debates, and this criticism has continued. The worry from many people is that they are not sure if he is capable enough to lead this country and sit in the oval office. I think in order for him to win it is important for him to step up his game and show that he's "in it to win it."

William Chen said...

Mr. Silton, you have my permission

Anonymous said...

Ron Paul is still running probably as a symbolic gesture. He never really had much of a chance to win anyway. He's probably hoping to get national exposure for his ideas.