Editorials

Give former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee credit for showing some political skills by winning the Iowa Republican caucus contest. The Huck felt he had to win in Iowa to establish himself as a credible candidate for president of the United States. Huckabee adroitly used his down-home Arkansas country boy aww shucks campaign style and parlayed the Iowa campaign to good advantage.

The question is where does the other guy from Hope, Arkansas go from here? The answer is not very far. Polls show him in the low teens in New Hampshire, the next beauty pageant. The real surprise in Iowa was Barak Obama’s stunning victory in the Democrat’s race. Obama’s win clearly illustrates a central fact – this country is ready for change. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who I still predict will be elected president, finished third because she is viewed as part of the Washington establishment. In short, more of the status quo.

Obama was the big story out of Iowa nationally, not Huckabee. And the same polls that show Huckabee in the low teens in New Hampshire indicate the race is neck and neck between Obama and Clinton.

In the long run, i.e., a few weeks from now, Clinton’s defeat in Iowa will turn to her favor. She will get sympathy from some voters, something that has been sorely lacking, and if she can turn this early defeat into something positive, she will be okay in the fall. If Clinton loses, then the next president will probably be John Edwards or Obama.

President George Bush has done more damage to the Republican Party than anyone since Richard Nixon. This country is still fighting a war started on a false premise that there were weapons of mass destruction, the dollar is tanking around the world, people are paying $3 a gallon for gasoline and $4 is on its way, a recession is already starting to take hold, and government deficits are once again out of control.

Here is what I would tell the Clinton camp if I was Hillary’s advisor: Show some humility. Tell the people that you learned a lesson in Iowa and that is this country does not want the status quo. Apologize for voting to fund the war and say you were duped. Say nice things about Barak Obama and John Edwards at every opportunity.

The Republicans will probably end up nominating John McCain as their standard bearer.

At the end of the day, politics is never boring but the American public is not tuned in now and won’t be until the fall.

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