First, Warner is much more in the mold of the “unity” newcomer than Hillary. And I called Dems’ resistance to Hillary. You didn’t. I also predicted McCain right and the mood of the Republican primary voters. Again, you didn’t.

One last note about my thoughts on Obama…see this post from 2005.

Well, for those of you for which that sort of thing bears on credibility, I did use the phrase “veritable chunks of salt.”

(And then, there is some suggestion that there are some economic wild cards hovering on the horizon which potentially would have quite a bit of effect, though in which direction that would accrue is isn’t something I can predict.)

Also, for what it’s worth–and this is strictly anecdotal and limited by my personal, and therefore by necessity, narrow experience–what I’m hearing among the politically opinionated “every day folk” here in Iowa strikes me as quite familiar, especially on the left side, to what I’ve heard since 2000, but most particularly during the run-up to the caucuses in the last election.

Now, what does that mean? Beats me in any truly meaningful way, except for random thoughts. Read into it what you will that there is a nostalgia for a Dean-type (and in some quarters someone more overtly progressive, even) and for a Gore. The former type I think would be disastrous for the dems on the national stage, and the latter–if it were he specifically who ran–has made some terrible decisions over the past few years, and not just his recent speech in Saudi Arabia.

Where does that leave Hillary? Well, this is a terribly unformed thought, so I reserve the right to withdraw or refine it at any time, but she’s got a problem in that she could, in fact, position herself in a number of ways. Each position, from what I can see, would be attractive to a constituency here–but unfortunately, it would be a very tough row to hoe to fully appeal to all of them. Perhaps that’s possible, and I think it’s a mistake to underestimate Hillary. The problem is, the effort–and what it would reveal–could be very problematic for later in the campaign.

On the Republican side, while there are certainly religious right elements, there’s also–and perhaps more so, but I suspect this varies elsewhere in the state–a strong “Main Street Republican” pull, in which “good government” (and smaller) is more of the issue, and family values has a much more broad and tolerant meaning, but still is very much of importance.

Again, you should take me thoughts as ONLY ruminations in progress, and with veritable chunks of salt.

Also, for context, I am NOT an Iowan, though we’re at the 10-year mark. Though raised in the Midwest (other states, not this one) for my first decade and possessed of many family members who are lifetime residents of flyover territory, I then spent about 25 years on the East Coast. In addition, both of us are registered as “No Party” here, so we have no particular axe to ground, but also no directly working-for-either-party experience.

(On the other hand, it’s a tad amusing–and perhaps telling–that most people tend to assume we’re one party or the other, specifically whichever one they espouse, and so they speak freely. Interesting phenomenon. And no, we’re not deceptive.)

Where are you from? Do you think that most people from your country like Hillary the best for 2008? Is that why you named her?

I think it’s really interesting to have the perspectives of people from all over the globe about which US leaders are favored and disfavored and why.

For the sake of all of us, please US citizens, PLEASE elect Hillary in 2008 :)

Or is it Hillary or bust??

McCain is a waste hawk, and a ethics hawk (at least nowadays), but thats about as far as it goes. His ideal government would be considerably larger than Goldwater’s - which puts him in with most of America. Remember - Goldwater lost.

Reread 1984. There is no war. Congress never declared war…they abdicated thier responsibilities by passing “resolutions.” This war is a fiction of the Bush administration that they are using to push a centralization of power that is, quite frankly, antithetical to the Constitution.

What we are facing is a long series of law enforcement and intelligence actions that seek to thwart the actions of non-government related individuals we belong to a radical creed bent on the destruction of eveyrthing they disagree with…The only difference between the Fundamentalist Christians and Fundamentalist Muslims is that the Christians currently control the man in the White House.

Seems to me he was president before 9/11.

Well true, but this rundown of the poll numbers should shed some light on what I’m talking about. And you will notice that the numbers spike when we got attacked or when we went to war. That’s all I meant.

On the other hand, remember that for most of 2003 and the first few weeks of 2004, the all-but-anointed Democratic candidate was Howard Dean, and John Kerry was barely even on the MSM’s radar. My gut feeling is that the same thing will happen with one or both major parties in 2008.

Seems to me he was president before 9/11.

And since there are no more battles or terrorism…

Oh. I get it. This post is sarcastic.