Politics Ain't Beanbag

When Finley Peter Dunne coined that phrase he must have known that individuals like the Clintons would inhabit the world of politics one day. They are perhaps the best practitioners of the no holds barred, no limit politics. This dynamic duo has cultivated an impressive political machine that has left many behind in its destructive path. This battle scarred couple seem to have set their sights on Barack Obama for their next target. After all this is Hillary's turn to be President and Bill's chance for a third term.

It is interesting how this Democrat party family feud has evolved. It appeared as if Hillary would sail through the Democrat nomination process. She had all the name i.d., money, and organization to do just that. Doing so would allow her to avoid attacks from her own side and she could focus herself on simply fending off the Republicans. But Barack Obama threw a wrench into Hillary's machine. After stagnating in the polls, Obama won Iowa and became viable to many voters looking to see if he would be able to be a true counter to Senator Clinton. Mrs. Clinton has had to adopt new strategies to confront Obama, namely bringing in her attack dog Bill.

The former President has been called upon to fight off Obama and do her dirty work. This tag team approach appears to have been somewhat successful. With each attack by Bill, Hillary has been able to rebound and win a contest. First there was New Hampshire and then Nevada where huffed and puffed about Obama and his union supporters inhabiting casinos during the caucus. The role Bill is playing is usually reserved for V.P. candidates, or wives in John Edwards case. Bill softens him up and Hillary finishes him off in the political ring.

Hillary and Barack continued their tit for tat during Monday night's Democratic debate. The mud was flying on both sides as each candidate tried to out slime the other. John Edwards remained relatively clean and at one point had to remind everyone that he was still there. Each of Senator Obama's and Clinton's policies and former statements were fair game. Accuracy did not seem to be a priority as anything that might stick in the minds of the voters was said. The queen of double talk tried to portray Obama's position on the war in Iraq and changing and nebulous. Meanwhile her own position on the war seems to change with the conditions on the ground.

Both Hillary and Barack tried to tag the other with their previous involvements, Hillary and Wal-Mart and Barack working for what Hillary called a "slum landlord business." It did not take long for corporations to come under attack. The "C" word for liberals constitutes a swear word, even worse is being associated with or working for one. It would seem to me that being anti-business is bad business. Liberals like to think of business as some monolithic force destroying the fabric of America.

I am not sure if the debate produced a clear winner. Maybe it was John Edwards who while ignored managed to stay out of the fray. Unfortunately he is neither a woman or black so he can forget about the nomination. Obama and Clinton may be the losers as both continued their war of words. Another loser may be anarchy as this debate was sans rules. The debate got out of hand at many points as Obama and Clinton could not resist going after each other and looking like lions about to descend on their prey. Wolf Blitzer tried to maintain control and keep Obama and Clinton from devouring each other live on stage. You have to give Obama credit he has held up against the double-headed assault of the Clintons so far. But South Carolina is next and Hillary is sure to have Bill on stand-by ready to pounce.

Delegate Count Jan. 19, 2008

Democrats
Hillary Clinton-210
Barack Obama-123
John Edwards-52
Dennis Kucinich-1
Mike Gravel-0
2,025 needed to win
Total includes pledged delegates and superdelegates.

Republicans
Mitt Romney-72
John McCain-38
Mike Huckabee-29
Fred Thompson-8
Ron Paul-6
Rudy Giuliani-2
1,191 needed to win
Total includes pledged and unpledged delegates

Courtesy of www.cnn.com
Election Center 2008