Catch Up!

We've got a debate tonight (#20, and maybe the last one of the race)! I'm pretty excited, as anything might happen -- there will be no opening or closing statements, and no time limits. It'll be chaos! Whoo-hoo!

I've also got a backlog of news and links, since I took a day off, and it was a very newsy day! I'll be adding to his list as the evening wears on, so reload the page for more -- I'll probably keep at it until around midnight. I'm not planning to live- blog the debate, but who knows!?! If things get really wacky, I might have to make a comment or two!

Chris Dodd, the first of the Democratic presidential contenders to endorse, has stepped into Obama's camp. Will Richardson be next to pick a team? (Also, progressives note: Russ Feingold has endorsed Obama.)

People keep talking about how Barack Obama is at a higher risk for potential harm than other candidates/presidents might be, but I'm not worried. Our Secret Service has an awesome record. If they weren't so good at what they do, I'm sure someone would have taken W out by now. If they can keep that unbelievably incompetent, reviled idiot safe, they can protect Barack Obama from a few stupid racists.

Is Peggy Noonan drunk? Or off her meds?

Who is Hillary running against? Which Hillary will show up tonight? The one who hates speeches and rallies? She criticizes Obama for a lack of foreign policy experience, but I'm pretty sure Barack has more foreign policy cred (as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) than Bill Clinton had when he was running for president in 1992. Besides, look where her supposed experience got her. And while we're at it, which Clinton is running?

Oh, Mark Penn. You're so ugly. But who are you really rooting for? Are you really in this primary race?

Dear John McCain... it's the lobbyists, stupid! Oh, and that pesky law that you wrote! Hypocrisy does not become you (and btw, John, the surge didn't work).

Dear Ron Paul supporters... you won't get anywhere if you don't vote!

The SCLM is at it again. Will they get away with it (Rachel's on it!)? There's a poll here. (And btw, why does CNN suck so much these days?)

One of Romney's valiant warrior sons says that Mitt may flip flop himself back into the race! Maybe he needs to get rid of some more of that pesky money...

... and in non-presidential politics, Chattanooga still has the worst mayor ever! How's this for a hamfisted and stupid attempt at humor?

The Kids Are Alright

Random notes in a post-Iowa world:

The young people finally showed up!. If the next generation is, indeed, taking over, is Chelsea the only relevant Clinton?

Obviously, the big winners yesterday were the Democratic party and Obama and Edwards. Both men made great speeches last night. If you didn't get to stay up and watch them live, here are the reruns: Barack Obama ~ John Edwards.

UPDATE: Walter Shapiro's Iowa in the rear-view mirror looks back at both Obama and Edwards in Iowa.

Dodd and Biden: I'm so sorry to see both of these candidates go, but glad to have them back in the trenches and doing what they do so well -- standing up to both the Republicans and the spineless Democrats -- full time again. And perhaps we will see them in new roles soon... majority leader and secretary of state, perhaps?

And while their campaigns are still active, Kucinich, Gravel and Hunter have been excluded from the weekend's New Hampshire debates, and their showings in Iowa do not bode well for their continuing efforts.

The good news is that the results in Iowa show that a candidate can't waltz in and just buy themselves a nomination. The candidates who thought they could throw some money at the state and win were shocked to see rivals with much less money do just as well, if not better, than they did. Yay for the power of the people! Also good news: the establishment took a big hit in Iowa. Hillary Clinton, the DLC, the BDE, Mitt Romney -- they all were schooled by anti-establishment winners like Obama, Edwards and Huckabee. Them's fighin' results!

Did the night also leave us with more questions than answers?

We do still have the same old Rudy Giuliani: "9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11..." He's got nothing else to say.

And who is suddenly the ugly stepchild in the GOP? Evangelical voters. Republicans have been quietly tolerating them, and using them to get out the vote, for years. But are they ready to let one lead their party? Apparently not.

Yes, I've known for a while that not all Republicans embrace the religious right, the culture wars, the incessant gay-bashing and all the other "social" issues. But they certainly tolerated and enabled these folks for decades (that's why some of us left the party a long time ago). I suspected and hoped that there'd come a time when the Republicans would finally have enough of the holy-rollers in their midst, but I never thought the revolt would come on little cat feet. Almost without notice, something changed, and establishment Republicans are now turning on Huckabee and the "values voters" that he represents, big time.

Or is it Ron Paul that the Republicans can't stand?

Results (with many updates)

Iowa Democrats: Barack Obama (38%), John Edwards (30%), Hillary Clinton (29%), Bill Richardson (2%), Joe Biden (1%), Chris Dodd (0%), Mike Gravel (0%), Dennis Kucinich (0%)

Iowa Republicans: Mike Huckabee (34%), Mitt Romney (25%), Fred Thompson (13%), John McCain (13%), Ron Paul (10%), Rudy Giuliani (3%), Duncan Hunter (0%)


MSNBC Results

Chris Dodd has already indicated that he will be dropping out of the race.

Turnout was great, with the projections estimating 220,588 Democrats (compare that to 124,000 four years ago) and 114,000 Republicans caucused. Those are remarkable numbers for a red state!

Obama is speaking now and doing a great job. Emmie commented that "he looks presidential." His voice sounds a little shaky, but his message is full of energy and change (hitting a lot of the populist tones that Edwards has been ringing). If he's trying to roll some momentum into New Hampshire, he's doing a great job. Wow.

Joe Biden is also out.

From Ezra Klein:

Barack Obama won tonight, but, in a sense, John Edwards' campaign also triumphed. The progressivism of the race, the focus on ideas, the courage of the Democrats -- all were products of his early example. He began the campaign by talking about poverty, announced his candidacy in the mud of New Orleans, set the agenda with the first universal health care bill, and closed Iowa speaking of the uninsured. This is Barack Obama's victory, and it's richly deserved. But Edwards, running as a full-throated populist, set the agenda and finished second, ahead of the Clinton juggernaut. He said his role was to speak for the voiceless. He now barrels towards New Hampshire with ever more volume. And while his shot at the nomination is long at best, his candidacy, even if it fails, will have been far more successful than most.

Once Again, the Democrats Don't Show Up

Jeeze. I can't believe this. The Democrats caved on SCHIP.

Oliver is right -- some of us put our blood, sweat and tears into taking back the Congress last year. And what have we gotten in return? A Congress that acts pretty much just like the Republican-controlled Congress did. Torture? Yes-sir-ee! Another blank check for Iraq? Oh, yes, oh, yes! Warrantless wiretapping and retroactive immunity for telcoms? If it weren't for Chris Dodd, we would have passed that one too.

Whatever Bush wants, Bush gets, even though the idiot is clearly a liar, has absolutely no credibility and has approval numbers lower than Nixon's worst.

So, why should those of us in the trenches bust our asses again next year? If they want to get reelected, can't they go hit up the Republicans for money and volunteers? After all, those are the people who have been benefiting from their "hard work."

I suppose that means at this point, this is the only guy I'm supporting in next year's Congressional elections:

Al Franken

Heh.   ;-)   Maybe the list will grow as we get closer to the elections. Let me know if you think someone's name should be added... but if it's not someone who has demonstrated the ability to lead, follow or get out of the way, I don't want to hear about him or her. And don't get me started on Nancy Freakin' Pelosi.

Quote of the Day

Laura Ingraham is pissed that Chris Dodd spoke Spanish at the debate. You'd think she'd be more upset that President Bush can't speak English.

(from Oliver Willis)

Dodd Seizes the Spotlight

This guy (Thers) is absolutely right on both counts. He links to this editorial from the NYTimes, that calls a spade a spade:

It was bad enough having a one-party government when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. But the Democrats took over, and still the one-party system continues.

First Thers nails it when it comes to the fact that our democratic leadership is impotent and unbelievably dense, and then gets more points for giving Chris Dodd credit for having some gonads:

I have no idea what it will take for the Democratic leadership to get it through their heads that it's not just the base but also the entire frickin' country that wants them to tell the Bushites to piss off with their waterboarding and their warrantless wiretaps and their dumbass horrible wars, and their lying, and oh yeah, all the damn dead people. How much more appalling could the Congressional poll numbers get? Is this some sort of science project — are they trying to compel statisticians to discover entirely new mathematical methodologies for calculating exactly how much contempt they're held in? America wants a change. OFFER ONE. Is Chris Dodd really the only one among you capable of perceiving the obvious?

As the Poor Man points out, Dodd is showing Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi what leadership actually looks like:

...Dodd has already taken a great risk - both personally and for his constituents in Connecticut - by putting this bill on ‘hold'. A filibuster would be a hundred times worse. Just threatening a filibuster is a total slap in the face to Harry Reid and the rest of the 11%-approval Get Along Gang in Congress, the telecom lobby, and President 24%. Clinton and Obama are probably still arguing about the correct diplomatic etiquette for public discussions of bombing our allies. This strange, shrill and unBroderian spectacle is what was once called "leadership".

Yeah, this may very well be a Hail Mary pass from a candidate who can't seem to be able to break away from the pack. But, since the pack is cowering in a corner, capitulating at every opportunity to a minority party and a lame duck president, this is a hell of great way to try and get the spotlight turned his way.

Bravo.