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January 8, 2008
– It was their first taste of what it will be like when Hillary
Clinton becomes president of the United States - if she does.
Matt Drudge's site sat silent. If
Obama had been winning, he would have leaked the exit polls early.
Instead, he ran an - imagine - completely untrue headline saying
Democratic ballots had run out, probably his attempt to discourage
some people from voting for some reason he figured would hurt
Clinton's chances.
ABC News' Charles Gibson, who just hours
before had been saying the New Hampshire result would mean
everything - when he expected Obama to win - started tonight's
broadcast with, "Well, it will be a long road ahead."
Really?
A newcomer won one small state, and only
won there because of the odd caucus set up that only allows
discussion during one specific hour - eliminating many older voters
- and lets voters flip - which, as
American Research Group reported, was the real difference in
Iowa; without people changing their vote in the second round, the
caucus in Iowa was tied between Clinton and Obama.
Even in New Hampshire, a
disproportionate number of non-affiliated voters
sway the pool. But at least there is a normal process that
allows people to vote all day into the night. And so older
voters could come out.
What happened in Iowa was petty sore
loser politics, where Richardson and Kucinich supporters lost
horribly, and so decided to stick it to the frontrunner, Clinton.
In addition, Iowans tend to vote for the
person who is most charming and superficially appealing. They
do not delve deeply into the issues, and they care nothing about
electability or how someone will run - or not be able to run - the
nation. Mike Huckabee being another George W. Bush policy-wise
meant nothing. He said he was religious and that was all that
mattered.
The right-wing, which owns and operates
basically the entire non-Moderate Independent media at this point,
jumped on and tried to run the exact same game plan they had in
2004, turning unfortunate Iowa results into an unstoppable train of
momentum.
There were two problems though.
First, having seen the nonsense last
election that catapulted the eventual loser to the nomination, state
after state altered their primary schedule. New York and
California refused to not have a say this time. They moved
from March 2nd up to a now massive February 5th. In response,
Iowa moved its date up, New Hampshire followed much closer behind
this year.
In short, the pattern was altered a bit.
But larger than that, Hillary - and Bill
- Clinton did exactly what Wesley Clark never did; what Al Gore
never did; and what John Kerry never did - call the media on its
biased coverage.
Last night, both Hillary and Bill let
out onslaughts about the softball coverage, the "free ride" as
Hillary told Dianne Sawyer, that both Obama and Edwards had been
given. She called them on their teaming up game, making them
not seem like two men out ahead of her but two losers playing a
desperate game to try and match up to one person who is beyond their
reach alone.
The Clintons didn't just point out the
free ride, but made the most important point - that the free ride
would end. Last election, the nation bought the nonsense that
the right-wing would play nice with John Kerry because he had been a
veteran. That, obviously, Swift-Boatly, changed once he was
the nominee.
It didn't take long for the nonsensical
bounce to wear off. New Hampshire quickly returned to
its previous state. The massive crowds around Obama were
obviously - unlike what the press was reporting - not supporters, but
interested people who didn't know much about him and, hearing the
Iowa news, wanted to find out. They already knew Hillary.
New Hampshire residents don't just jump on board like cattle - they
come take a look-see.
Which is what makes Obama's loss in New
Hampshire so devastating - yes, it is shattering, unlike the rest of
the media will report.
As we reported a few days back, unlike
what the rest of the media was reporting, Iowa's victory did not
give Obama an "unstoppable" path to victory. In fact...
...remember
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter already saying it was over within
minutes of the Iowa result: "With his victory tonight, Barack Obama
is now the strong favorite to be the Democratic nominee for
president. The only one who can stop Obama from making history is
Obama."
Um, feel dumb, Jon?
Or how about
CBS chiming in that night with the story line the right-wing
dominated media wanted, that that night meant everything for the
Democrats and nothing for the Republicans: "While Democrats found
clarity in Iowa, the Republicans created confusion."
Um, sorry. Let's try, um, saying,
um, nothing of that sort. But thanks for trying.
What Iowa gave Obama, as we reported,
was exactly what we saw with those crowds in New Hampshire this week
- the right to a look-see. Without the Iowa win, Obama would
have had no chance. The Iowa win got him the opportunity to be
seen. But in the end, as
M/I's Betsy Vasquez predicted before this all began, voters will
find Obama charming, capable, but not yet ready for prime time.
The state of the nation is too serious to trust an inexperienced
former drug-addict with the Osama-like name, to put it as they
realized - thanks to the Clintons finally taking on the media - what
Obama will look like through right-wing coverage in the general
election.
A New Hampshire follow-through was
Obama's only hope. In effect, contrary to what Mr. Gibson said
on ABC tonight, tonight the race for the Democratic nomination just
about ended.
Now anything is still possible.
But reality is, if Obama couldn't ride the media wave, just holding
on for a few days, in a state where people can cross over to vote,
he has little chance in places like New York and California, where
it will be nothing but Democrats who want a sure, time-tested
torch-bearer.
And a closer look at tonight's results
show how quickly Obama's star may fade. Most states do not
allow independents to vote in a Democratic primary, and in New
Hampshire, as ABC reports, "Clinton won mainline Democrats, by 45-34
percent." Not even close. A landslide. Obama won
by a similar margin among non-Democrats, which is the only reason it
was close. Take out those voters - as most states to come will
- and its simply Clinton 45%, Obama 34%.
State by state, the people of America
will look at Obama and say, welcome, please come back another time.
The great story of the night carries
over onto the Republican side as well, where former Moderate
Independent favorite, John McCain pulled out a nice victory.
Besty Vasquez, in that same article, predicted that Guiliani -
remember him - would fade quicker than Dean did last time, and that
McCain would very possibly be the one to move in.
Now, we may be biased in terms of which
news source we prefer, but take this moment to step back, think
about the entirely off mark - seemingly intentionally biased -
coverage virtually every other news source and blog have given you
over the past few days. And then go back and read our 2008
election coverage to date. You might then read some of our
other articles - always independent, and always ahead - far ahead -
of the non-M/I media curve.
So let the rest of the media be shocked
and disappointed that their Hillary is dead story didn't pan out.
But more importantly, let the right-wing
liars truly be afraid - and let America, for the first time in a
decade, feel glad that they finally have a candidate who understands
the biggest issue facing our nation - the right-wing propaganda
machine that installed Bush, sold the Iraq War, and which, if not
made a top priority and dealt with both in the election cycle and
with restoration of the Fairness Doctrine and media ownership
regulations, will bring America the rest of the way down into
non-Democratic third world status.
For this night, Americans can sleep
soundly. They have a champion who is on point, on the mark,
and, most importantly as she showed during this absurd week - by far
the toughest, strongest woman this nation has ever seen.
Be very, very afraid right wing liars.
Your whipping girl has learned to crack it herself, and she may be
about to take over the house you all reside in. Hillary
Clinton has come of age. America, meet what is likely your
first female president. And, possibly, the only person strong
enough to restore our nation to sanity and greatness.
After Iowa, the entire non-M/I media
said the Democrats had clarity, the Republicans didn't.
Tonight they say neither party has clarity.
Um, wrong again. Let us set the
record straight. America sees only two viable, experienced,
credible candidates. One leans more right, one leans more
left. But both are trustworthy, strong, and without question
ready to serve. And tonight, New Hampshire issued a result
that likely will be rolled out again and again, and trumpeted come
February 5th.
What a great election it can be, with
Hillary Clinton against Maverick McCain. Either way, Moderate
Independents would come out on top. Which would be preferable
we can talk about later. For now, let's get back to network
silliness and self-embarrassing coverage by organizations with a
trillion times the budget we have.
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