SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!
Wow, what on earth happened yesterday? To hear the news people and the pundits tell it, Hillary was all but dead in the water, while Obama was walking on it, and it was all over but the shouting. Low and behold, once the smoke cleared, Hillary won New Hampshire, and everyone was stunned. Will wonders never cease?
Now, I don’t know what happened, either. All I know is, all the polls showed Obama leading Hillary by double digits going into yesterdays New Hampshire primary, but it was evident once the results started coming in that they had all been wrong. Now, that’s not a new thing, remember 2000 and Presidential election that gave Florida and the Presidency to Gore, only to yank it away later and give it all to Bush? Polls aren’t sacrosanct by any means, but there are usually one or two that go against the majority and get it right, or nearly so. This time, everyone missed it, even Clinton’s own pollsters.
I heard Dan Abrams talking today, and he said the most intelligent thing I’ve heard in all of the hoopla since it became clear what a mistake had been made: don’t pay attention to the news, the pundits, or the polls, because no one knows what will really happen until it happens. Smart guy, that Abrams fella. I know I’m not going to pay attention to any of that any more. They’re not going to fool me again!
I have to admit, I watched Hillary’s votes add up and thought it was nice to see, but it surely wouldn’t last. My grandson came through, saw the tally, and said “Hillary’s winning!”, to which I replied “Yes, for a minute.” I was sure the percentages would change at any minute, putting Obama firmly in the lead, and only hoped she’d hold on to second this time. As the evening went on and her lead continued, staying anywhere from 36% to 40% until it settled at 39% and stayed there, I became more and more incredulous. I simply couldn’t believe it would last, because everyone had her down and out all week. It did last, tho, and she hung on to win. Well, good for her!
Obama wasn’t very happy, although he did give a great speech. I was struck by the fact it didn’t seem much like a concession speech, and thought that was a bit high-handed of him, but considering his haughty remark about her likability in the debate the other night it wasn’t that surprising. I want to like the man, I really do, because I think he will make a good President a few years down the road, but he’s making it hard for me to do that. His attitude bugs me, his seeming sense of entitlement, that the job is his because he says it is, etc. Hopefully this will straighten that out, give him some humility, and I can go back to being impressed by his oratory skills once again.
Another thing I don’t like is how he and Edwards can unload on Hillary, getting as mean-spirited as they like, and it’s fine. However, when she stands up and fights back, everything thinks she’s horrible to picking on Obama. Of course, no one complains about Edwards being attacked, but if she says anything about Obama that isn’t glowing praise, she’s just wrong. I say, turn about’s fair play. If he’s going to make statements about her ideas that are provably wrong, she has the right to correct that and point out where he’s wrong about things. That’s not attacking him, it’s not mud-slinging, it’s simply debating the issues, her point against his. It’s part of a good debate, after all, and it’s up to us to research it to find out which is correct. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work. That’s the way I decide who I want to vote for.
I have no idea what will happen in Nevada, South Carolina, or Florida, the next primaries to be fought over, and the thing is, neither does anyone else. Whatever happens, tho, we all need to remember that it’s only just started, there are many more states to go in deciding who our nominee will be, and trying to annoint one person or the other at this point is simply premature. Let’s wait and see who does what before we try to say who’s the winner. We won’t look so stupid that way, at least.
