Since the final results of Iowa Caucuses were announced, the pundits have put countless spins and explanations on it!
Here’s a simple run down:
People are tired of status quo in this country! The young people are tired of being lied to. So, they came out in record numbers and participated in the tired, old process! Hence the good news for Obama! Was Oprah’s endorsement a factor? I don’t really know; but I suspect NOT! We will know when the contests in bigger TV markets come along, won’t we?!
And the basic reason for Hillary’s fizzle (in my view) was the fact that she forgot the most important rule of American electioneering: In the party primaries you run as a passionate radical (in her case as a far left liberal) to ensure the maximum appeal to your party’s faithful base! Then once you have won the nomination, you move back to the center and run for the national elections as a centrist! I’m very surprised that Hillary forgot this basic rule and has been running a centrist campaign, as if she has already won the nomination and she is running against the Republican finalist! Well, she lost Iowa because of this big error! I’m just surprised that her primary advisor (Bill) allowed this rookie mistake!!!
And on the Republican side, the Evangelical troops turned out in record numbers, to make a last stand against a pack of front runners who included another tired old white guy (Mc Cain) and a Mormon billionnaire (Romney)! Hence the big win for Mike Huckabee!
I suspect McCain will do much better in New Hampshire, although one can not discount the big $$$ (watch out for Rudy and/or Romney’s come back. Although in Romney’s case, the Mormon stain is going to stay with him all the way and hard to overcome!)
With Jahanshah’s permission, I will provide my occasional reports on US Election 2008 from now on! I invite your comments and feedback as well.
Farhad Radmehrian
