| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Clinton comeback contradicts conventional wisdom,
however ill-formed and ephemeral
What can one say other than, never count out a Clinton.
Apparently, and spectacularly, rumors of Hillary's political
demise were premature and greatly exaggerated. After the
Iowa debacle, the only thing remaining was the formal
canonization of Obama and a potential lengthy stay for Hillary
in a sanatorium for washed up power junkies.
Headlines on Drudge had declared "Talk of Hillary exit engulfs
campaigns." Dejection, despondency and demoralization had
reportedly set in. The first-gentleman-to-be had resorted to
telling a crowd that he couldn't make his wife "younger" or
"taller" or "male" or -- I don't know -- better able to wear
something other than dowdy pantsuits.
Obama mania was raging like a prairie fire and polls were
giving him double digit leads in New Hampshire. So what
happened to turn it all around? Was it the Clinton attack
machine? Dirty tricks?
No, it was her weekend display of vulnerability after the Iowa
loss during which she choked up, albeit ever so slightly and not
at all like the "breakdown" some described it as. But it was a
rather blatantly emotional appeal to the public to give her
another chance. And lo and behold, that's exactly what they
did in New Hampshire, especially the women, the absolutely
indispensable women, who reappeared in droves after she had
been hung out to dry in Iowa.
The other factor was that the highly animated and much
ballyhooed youth vote, which propelled Obama to victory in
Iowa, decided to play hooky in New Hampshire. Funny thing
about youthful voters, given their mush-filled brains and as yet
mostly unformed political convictions, they can't be counted
upon to show up at any given time.
So the recently formed conventional wisdom which had Hillary
getting blown out in the Granite State -- which was the opposite
of the previous and long-running conventional wisdom that
had her coronation all but a fait accompli -- was dead wrong.
Pragmatism therefore now instructs us that conventional
wisdom, at least in this most bizarre of campaign seasons,
should be ignored.
On the other hand, conventional wisdom had John McCain
winning in New Hampshire and that's exactly what happened.
Well, sure, but so what? Does anybody believe there are enough
cranky independents outside of New Hampshire to propel
McCain to the Republican nomination given that the
conservative base despises his positions on almost everything
other than foreign policy and the war in Iraq?
Stay tuned . . .
however ill-formed and ephemeral
What can one say other than, never count out a Clinton.
Apparently, and spectacularly, rumors of Hillary's political
demise were premature and greatly exaggerated. After the
Iowa debacle, the only thing remaining was the formal
canonization of Obama and a potential lengthy stay for Hillary
in a sanatorium for washed up power junkies.
Headlines on Drudge had declared "Talk of Hillary exit engulfs
campaigns." Dejection, despondency and demoralization had
reportedly set in. The first-gentleman-to-be had resorted to
telling a crowd that he couldn't make his wife "younger" or
"taller" or "male" or -- I don't know -- better able to wear
something other than dowdy pantsuits.
Obama mania was raging like a prairie fire and polls were
giving him double digit leads in New Hampshire. So what
happened to turn it all around? Was it the Clinton attack
machine? Dirty tricks?
No, it was her weekend display of vulnerability after the Iowa
loss during which she choked up, albeit ever so slightly and not
at all like the "breakdown" some described it as. But it was a
rather blatantly emotional appeal to the public to give her
another chance. And lo and behold, that's exactly what they
did in New Hampshire, especially the women, the absolutely
indispensable women, who reappeared in droves after she had
been hung out to dry in Iowa.
The other factor was that the highly animated and much
ballyhooed youth vote, which propelled Obama to victory in
Iowa, decided to play hooky in New Hampshire. Funny thing
about youthful voters, given their mush-filled brains and as yet
mostly unformed political convictions, they can't be counted
upon to show up at any given time.
So the recently formed conventional wisdom which had Hillary
getting blown out in the Granite State -- which was the opposite
of the previous and long-running conventional wisdom that
had her coronation all but a fait accompli -- was dead wrong.
Pragmatism therefore now instructs us that conventional
wisdom, at least in this most bizarre of campaign seasons,
should be ignored.
On the other hand, conventional wisdom had John McCain
winning in New Hampshire and that's exactly what happened.
Well, sure, but so what? Does anybody believe there are enough
cranky independents outside of New Hampshire to propel
McCain to the Republican nomination given that the
conservative base despises his positions on almost everything
other than foreign policy and the war in Iraq?
Stay tuned . . .