Iowa Caucus running thread

Agree completely. That would be the perfect way to do it.

We wouldn't get to watch candidates whore themselves out to a handful of evangelicals for almost six months straight, but we'd have to get over that...

 

A point made in The Guardian last week (and if you're not reading The Guardian's U.S. election coverage, I do recommend it*): Because Obama has governed essentially as you would expect from what was formerly known as a centrist Republican, the only way the current Republican Party can present itself as an actual alternative is via the hard-right nutty stuff.

It's tangentially related to something that I think a lot of true lefties have been saying for a while: They're going to call you a socialist no matter what. You might as well actually do it occasionally.

*-Unless you're a fan of the Republicans. They're not particularly kind -- but then I suspect they wouldn't be that kind if there were a Democratic primary, either.

 

Yuuuuup.

RS bet it all on Iowa because the GOP demographic there fits his pitch like a glove. It served him well that the rest of the righty fringe shot their wads / committed hari-kari before he stepped up to take his big swing. Have no doubt he'll breeze by the rest in that niche tonight, but it's all downhill from there -- unless the other righty/evangie swingers all decide to drop out simultaneously and fall in line with him to try to head off Romney . . . and they're having too much fun building their own brands to do that.

 

Stevie still thinks Perry has a chance.

Yee-haw.

 

The REAL fun comes when -- now that Romney, hiding behind a SuperPAC, has smeared (accurately!) Newt relentlessly in Iowa with heavy media barrages -- Romney gets it back in spades from Newt, beginning Wednesday, with steady escalation going into New Hampshire. Mitt's ObamaCare-type support and past abortion stands are going to get heavy exposure in this blitz. The blood will be flowing.

 

Why didn't he do it in Iowa, where Romney was more vulnerable?

 

I don't think Newt was quite prepared for the breadth and ferocity of the personal attacks in question.

It appears he is, now. We'll see.

 

Do you mean Newt?

 

Of course; thanks.

 

Cool. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't misunderstanding the post.

It's remarkable how people constantly say that they don't like negative campaigning - but how, in survey after survey and poll after poll, negative campaigning works wonders.

 

Mitt's playing it smart.

Even if he finishes third today, he leaves Iowa with Gingrich very damaged, which to Romney is probably the only thing that matters.