I am heading up to Iowa today to observe some of the caucus fun. Today could have a major impact on which candidates will remain serious contenders. There has been a lot of religious rhetoric in this campaign (sadly the Christian faith has been too politicized), but perhaps the most fitting to recall for today is the odd remark by Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson a few months ago about the debate over primary schedules. Richardson pledged not to participate in any caucus or primary that scheduled its vote prior to Iowa's caucus (ultimately, none did). He invoked God as part of the reason for his decision. Richardson argued:
Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary.So apparently the Lord wants Iowa to be first? Who says Republicans are the only ones to inappropriately play the "god card"? His claim was even weirder than trying to find hidden crosses in a Huckabee ad! Surprisingly, Richardson would not be the first to make this mistake. In the movie Fields of Dreams, there is this discussion:
John Kinsella: Is this heaven?I have been to Iowa a lot and would not confuse it with heaven, but I guess it basically will be that for some of the candidates today. But hopefully they will not invoke God to justify their campaigns.
Ray Kinsella: It's Iowa.
John Kinsella: Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.
I've never been to Iowa, but the Iowans I know are great people.
ReplyDeleteObserving the results tonight, with Huckabee and Obama the big winners, and Edwards a winner in terms of coming in second, ahead of Hillary, I'd say there might be good reason to start the presidential selection in a state like Iowa, which is probably a better gauge of where most Americans are in terms of their politics than just about anywhere else.
The Democratic caucus turnout, a record that included a fair slice of people who voted for Bush in 2004, combined with the sweep the party had in the statewide elections in Kentucky in November may be a fair predictor of who will occupy the White House come November. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on Obama at this point. I'd prefer Huckabee over any of the other Republicans, but I just don't think the GOP will be able to get their man in come November.
Thanks for the comment. It was obvious that the people there had taken their job seriously and really knew the candidates the issues. Being there to watch the process made me feel better about Iowa having such an influential role in the process.
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