New Hampshire: It’s What’s New!

Last West Wing reference for a while, I swear.

So, I don’t think I’ve ever put it down anywhere officially but Barack Obama is more or less my guy in this race.

I decided this shortly before the Iowa Caucus, not because of anything anyone said but simply because I had been too busy to pay attention to politics until the Christmas holiday.

As I caught up on the Democratic campaigns, I realized that the only sympathy I had for Hillary Clinton’s ideas was just spilling over from my love for her husband. When I scrutinized her outside the glow of Bubba’s charm, all I could think of was the Iraq War vote and how calculating and gutless it was, and how it was a Clintonian gamble rather than a moral decision, and that pretty much ended the argument between her and Obama in my mind. (Also, Bill’s strange litany of opinions about the war isn’t anything to be proud of either.) It’s not that the Clinton’s don’t still have some good ideas, it’s just that in a moment of national crisis Hillary chose to save her own reputation rather than her country’s and that tells me everything I need to know about the kind of president she would be.

Anyway. All that is background for the question I’ve been asked a few times in the last week: Am I upset about the New Hampshire results?

No. Of course it would have been exciting had Obama won by a healthy margin again and built up even more momentum and cruised through Super Tuesday the presumptive nominee.

But you need a lot more than excitement to win the Oval Office, and what the shift between Iowa and New Hampshire voting has ensured is that Clinton and Obama will have to fight for their delegates. Actually, Hillary already did have to fight, and now it’s Barack’s turn to stump on more than that RFK-esque liberal entitlement – or at least re-earn that entitlement, post–New Hampshire (because, you know, he kind of deserved it in Iowa).

In short, it’s better for the party (and the same thing is happening to Republicans, although they’re certainly a bit less unified, and understandably so) and the country that we have a full, 15-round bout rather than a second-round knock-out. It also makes for stronger candidates come the presidential election.

One final note … If you’re reading this here then you’ve probably already heard it from more authoritative sources, but regardless: If you’ve never paid attention to electoral politics in this country before but feel that you should, this is a perfect time to start. New Hampshire alone proved how predictably unpredictable these early races can be: Polling isn’t always accurate; early voters love to break trends almost as much as the news media like to set them; there’s no one factor like money, ground support, or public performance that can guarantee a win.

Our children (if we have any schools in the future) will be studying the stuff that we’re reading in the newspapers this year.

It’s gonna be quite a race.

1/12/08

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