Iowa Caucus running thread

The hour is nigh.

 

The vindication of Rick Santorum is upon us!

 

I'm happy this day is here in the same way that I'm happy when opening day arrives in any sport. At some point, you want some games instead of just previews and predictions. I imagine that the political press feels the same way we do after training camp. If training camp were 18 months long.

 

It's odd how much Santorum plays up the fact that he homeschooled his children. That's a real badge of honor, I take it, among the base.

I have always kind of bought into the stereotype of homeschooled kids as socially inept and ill-equipped for the world. I'm a big supporter of public education, so I have a dog in the fight. The other day, though, I met my wife's second cousins, both homeschooled (their mom went to Northwestern, so she's no sheltered shut-in fundie). The girl is 20 and a senior at a college in Manhattan that she says is located in the Empire State Bulding (can't recall the name). She carries herself like she's 30. The boy is 16 or 17 and looking at small, conservative colleges right now where he can play baseball. He's 16 going on 26.

Anyway, that's a digression, and I'm still not a huge fan of homeschooling. But it's always odd when your world gets thrown for a loop a little bit.

Back to Iowa.

 

The idea that a smattering of ideologically skewed Iowans can play such a large role in selecting or eliminating a presidential candidate is disturbing. Gail Collins made the point last week that these clowns should be ignored:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/opinion/feel-free-to-ignore-iowa.html?_r=1

Of course, the reality is that it's an important part of the media echo chamber, so it takes on a life of its own.

 

I love the fact that the campaigns seem to be spinning out of control, with the lesser candidates (i.e., everyone but Willard) hurling insults and accusations at each other.

Their true colors, exposed.

 

We'll all have the people of Iowa to thank for Rick Santorum and Ron Paul living to fight another day...

I think the people in Iowa get off on giving life to candidates that are being ignored by the majority of the rest of the country. They did that for Huckabee in 2008. Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan have done well there in the past. I think Pat Robertson finished ahead of Bush I in 1988.

 

Too late. GOP=Tea Party=Gridlocked Congress for this election cycle. The grown-ups in the party should have stood up to these idiots instead of pandering to them.

 

The only thing more overblown than the Iowa Caucus is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

 

I will never understand why they do it in this order. It would seem to make much more sense to have the first three primaries be in states that year in and year out need to be carried to win an election. States like Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania...

 

^^^^ This...

Since 1976, only two candidates who won the Iowa Caucus for their parties ever became the President of the United States.