Election '08: Primaries

[erdogs]

Your candidate matchmaker. Answer the questions that represent your views and see which candidate you need to support

http://wghp.4wmt.com/cmm/

[cityboi]

I came up with:

1st place

Joe Biden 33% match

John Edwards 33% match

Mike Gravel 33% match

2nd place

Bill Richardson 30% match

Hillary Clinton 30% match

3rd place

Barack Obama 28% match

Dennis Kucinich 28% match

John McCain 28% match

republican Mike Huckabee was dead last on my list with 8%

Fred Thompson was the highest republican match on my list at 23%

[vdogg]

Chris Dodd? I'm shocked. In reality my first choice is Hillary and my second is Barack. I'm surprised by this though. I really need to read up on some of these other candidates views.

Chris Dodd 70%

Hillary Clinton

Democratic Jr Senator (NY);

former First Lady

68%

Dennis Kucinich

Democratic Representative (OH-10)

65%

Mike Gravel

Former Senator (AK)

60%

Barack Obama

Democratic Jr Senator (IL);

previously State Senator

60%

Joe Biden

Democratic Sr Senator (DE)

55%

John Edwards

2004 Nominee for Vice President;

Former NC Senator

53%

Bill Richardson

Democratic NM Governor

53%

Rudy Giuliani

Former Mayor of New York City;

Republican Candidate for 2000 Senate (NY)

40%

Ron Paul

Republican Representative (TX-14);

Libertarian nominee for President in 1988

40%

John McCain

Republican Sr Senator (AZ);

2000 Primary Candidate for President

30%

Mitt Romney

Retiring Republican MA Governor

28%

Fred Thompson

Former Republican Senator (TN)

28%

Mike Huckabee

Republican AR Governor

20%

Duncan Hunter

Republican Representative (CA-52)

8%

[vdogg]

Obama won with 36% of the vote. Hillary was my first choice, but i'm definitely happy with this outcome. We have a great line up of candidates among the three front runners, and due to the closeness of the vote this won't end quickly.

[monsoon]

Hillary is 3rd place. It's definitely egg in her face given the amount of money they spent there. I am predicting now that she will lose SC. She is now, like Guiliani saying that she is running a "national campaign". LOL

Gratz to Obama. I think it is time for a change like this. Gratz to Iowans for being brave enough to vote for him.

[Charlotteman]

Congrats to Obama for a decisive win. This clearly puts Sen. Clinton in trouble......70% of Iowa Democrats voted against her.

If Obama can pull off a win in N.H., he could emerge as the front runner damn quick. Let's hope that happens. So many of us agree Sen. Clinton would be a hard sell in November.

[tombarnes]

At least it's getting interesting. I'm not especially pleased to see Huckabee come out on top in Iowa, though I'm hoping that Hillary will simply go away come Tuesday. Obama has a lot of promise, but I still think he may prove to be naive about the machinations of Washington. As liberating as it may be to have an "outsider" in office, we would do well to recall the tough times Carter endured within the beltway. New Hampshire may tell us more on Tuesday.

[vdogg]

Honestly, Obama may have just won a convert here. That victory speech he just gave was one of the most rousing i've heard from any candidate in my voting life. It reminded me of the types of speeches Bobby Kennedy used to give (not that I was alive back then). It's been a long time since we had a politician who could literally move people like this. It'll be interesting to see what New Hampshire brings. If he picks up that and SC then come Super Tuesday he may just run the table and Hillary will be lucky to get VP.

[vdogg]

[Charlotteman]

Thanks for posting the youtube link for Obama's victory speech, vdogg.

One of the most exciting aspects of the caucuses is that the Democrats brought out 221,000 participants. In 2004, the Democrats only managed to bring out 100,000.

Iowa caucuses aren't a casual trip to the polls; it's a serious effort that lasts hours. It was cold in Iowa today as well. The committment of all those folks to show up has to be a good sign for the Democrats.

a sidenote: on the Republican side in Iowa, 100,000 participated.

[cityboi]

Hillary is 3rd place. It's definitely egg in her face given the amount of money they spent there. I am predicting now that she will lose SC. She is now, like Guiliani saying that she is running a "national campaign". LOL

Gratz to Obama. I think it is time for a change like this. Gratz to Iowans for being brave enough to vote for him.

[JDC]

^ Hey cityboi, thanks for following the media's lead by ignoring Bill Richardson. Pulling in two percent of the vote is pretty impressive when you consider Iowa's arbitrary 15% viability threshold.

[monsoon]

....As liberating as it may be to have an "outsider" in office, we would do well to recall the tough times Carter endured within the beltway. New Hampshire may tell us more on Tuesday.

[tombarnes]

Good point Marc. I was merely pointing out that Washington tends to be a rough place for outsiders of any stripe. In retrospect, Carter's policies are looking better and better. I'm disappointed that Richardson and Ron Paul both had a poor showing in the Iowa caucus. If the choice comes down to Obama vs. Huckabee, I'd certainly choose Obama. As for Jillary being V.P., I hope the lesson will be learned not to trot out old candidates and old ways. The message for change last night was clear, but we'll have to wait for NH to see more.

[vdogg]

Here are the actual vote counts (not delegate counts) for each candidate. It makes Hillary's loss to Obama all the more stunning.

93,952 Obama

74,377 Edwards

73,666 Clinton

38,605 Huckabee (93% of precincts)

28,367 Romney (93% of precincts)

14,749 McCain (93% of precincts)

[voyager12]

I was an early Hillary supporter but she turned me off with her petty attacks on Obama and lack of authenticity. Edwards holds the progressive positions I mostly agree with but his tantrum style is annoying. He is not going to be able to scream his way to The White House. I don't expect him to win NH and he lacks the money and organization to last much longer. Obama is able to appeal across political lines and has a great vibe but politics being what it is we could be on a completely different track after New Hampshire votes. We shall see.....

[kayman]

I'm GLAD that Hiliary Clinton was 3rd in the Iowa Caucus, and hopefully by Super Tuesday in February she gets a clue and give up. Her polarizing empty promises are the primary reason why I was so turned off from the Democratic party, and finally the moderate unifiers like Edwards and Obama are finally getting their well-deserved attention.

She had the audicity to say today that "Everybody knows that Iowa doesn't make wise decisions when it comes to elections." I can't wait until the primary next month here in Alabama, so I can not vote for her and send her a message.

[Charlotteman]

The "young" vote could counter the "religous" vote on the republican side.

[vdogg]

Young voters just can't be counted on in politics. But religious fanatics can always be counted upon.

[ChiefJoJo]

BTW, Obama won 38% of the vote in the final numbers, with Edwards at 30% and Hillary at 29%.

That victory speech he just gave was one of the most rousing i've heard from any candidate in my voting life. It reminded me of the types of speeches Bobby Kennedy used to give (not that I was alive back then). It's been a long time since we had a politician who could literally move people like this.

[Charlotteman]

As the days go by, I'm becoming more and more convinced that a President Hillary Clinton would be almost no different than Bush.

Sure, the moronic tax cuts for upper level wage earners would cease. Rhetorical threats toward Iran would probably end. Normal international relationships would return.

But besides just a few things, how would Hillary be that different from what we already have? The war would continue.......the permeation of right-wing ideologies into the Federal government would go on unabated......the Neo-con movement would most likely embrace Hillary as one of their own.

For all you Democrat UPers who reside in New Hampshire and South Carolina, PLEASE consider your vote very carefully. Thanks.

[monsoon]

As the days go by, I'm becoming more and more convinced that a President Hillary Clinton would be almost no different than Bush.

....

[ChiefJoJo]

Here's an thoughtful post from DailyKos:

As one Illinois Republican state senator has said: "Barack had a way both intellectually and in demeanor that defused skeptics ... [a] unique [ability] to deal with extremely complex issues, to reach across the aisle and to deal with diverse people."

The post goes on to discuss his unique skills and evidence that in a short time in politics, he has shown the ability to assemble broad coalitions of support (from independents and the GOP) for a progressive agenda. Now that he has, in the view of many, eliminated the electability concern, I think he will surge past Hillary in NH and SC, and take the nomination.

And BTW, Obama has the same experience as Abraham Lincoln did in 1860.

[vdogg]

The Dems are having one hell of a debate tonight, it's actually kept my interest, which is saying a lot. Obama quote of the night "We have to be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in". Amen to that. Hillary definitely came out swinging tonight though, so I wouldn't count her out yet. I think in the end this one will be a nail biter between her and Obama, but I'm thinking more and more that Obama will win.

[Lowerdeck]

I was very impressed tonight with the ability for the Democrats to look beyond a narrow scope of issues and actually address many things needing attention in America today. The Republicans only seem to care about national security and Iraq, the Dems gave their opinions on that in a timely manner and had less in fighting and wanted to make more of a difference to America.

Barring some 3rd party rise or a Ron Paul miracle, I couldn't see myself NOT voting for the Democrat over the Republican in November. After tonight, I've pretty much warmed up to the fact I can vote for Hillary and not hate myself for it.