Iowa, New Hampshire, and Fun with Nerds
Well, as Bush gets ready to lie to us some more, the Democrats go to New Hampshire pretty much shaken and stirred.
Kerry shook up the room, and he’s going into New Hampshire fairly strong (Dean 28%, Kerry 20%, Clark 19%, changed from Dean 28%, Clark 20%, Kerry 19% two days ago), But Clark is still holding strong as well, even in Dean country (he should, he been there long enough alone). Josh Marshall blogged from his campaign tonight. Their spin was that Kerry “doesn’t have the ground organization in those states or the money to play everywhere at once in those later contests.” Maybe. Could change. We’ll see. For me, Kerry is more of Mondale 2.0 like Clark is Dean 2.0. I’m sure he’s good, but he’s got this soft center and has been one of the go-alongs among the Democrats. It should be very interesting to follow things over the next several days; I have a feeling that Dean, Clark, Edwards and Kerry will be some of the real survivors, with perhaps Leiberman, Kucinich and Sharpton staying on for staying’s sake. Edwards will stay at least until they get some southern numbers in, Dean because despite what may happen he’s got too much momentum before he stops, and Kerry because he’s building. Clark will be interesting to watch because he’s just coming into it, and Leiberman I think will be more or less technically out unless he scores big, which I don’t think–he’s too hawkish for the Dems right now.
Keep an eye on Josh Marshall, he should have some interesting things to say as he follows his independently funded junket through New Hampshire.
In other, more techy news, the Mars rover is looking at a rock and saying “yum.”
Canadian teen Mike Rowe is having fun with Microsoft over his personal site MikeRoweSoft.com. Microsoft, in what I feel is a supremely stupid gesture, is suing the Canadian lad for using “their” name–as if people will actually be confused by this. Good for Mike!
If you are tired of Yahoo Mail or Hotmail, look for Google Mail soon (under the name “googlemail.com”).
And in an age of Internet this and that, and people worrying about too many cameras, this woman is grateful–her webcam showed her being kicked by her mare, which had just given birth. Without web watchers calling for help, she may very well have died.
Don’t click on the Bagle’s calculator.
I’m watching Bush’s speech…he actually just alluded to his war on terrorism, calling it a “task without end.” Sounds about right. =(
He also alluded to the carrier “Mission Accomplished” landing and the mess hall in Iraq. Two shameless PR events. Incredible.
For me, Kerry is more of Mondale 2.0 like Clark is Dean 2.0. I’m sure he’s good, but he’s got this soft center and has been one of the go-alongs among the Democrats.
Well, I think it is probably necessary in this case to make the distinction between the best man for the job of being president and the best candidate for this particular election, which are not necessarily one and the same. I think Kerry is perfectly suited to the task of being president (far more so than the others), but I don’t think he’s ultimately going to be the winner of the Democratic nomination–which renders his qualifications moot.
Overall, though, I agree with your assessment. It is now a race between Dean, Clark, Kerry, and Edwards. The others may still be running, but they hardly matter now.
At this point, I strongly suspect that this will come down to a Dean vs. Clark race, mostly for the reasons that Kevin Drum points out in his post-Iowa musings.
It is incredible! The man has no shame.