A few divine thoughts on where the race now stands in both parties. As bad as the Des Moines Register debate was, complete with a wild-eyed Alan Keyes and the hopelessly smug School Marm moderator, it is still a big thing in Iowa. My guess is the biggest impact will be negative and it will be on Rudy’s campaign. Giuliani’s strategy has been to work hard under the surface to engineer a “surprise” third place finish in Iowa, which would catapult him into New Hampshire five days later. Yet Rudy was weak in this vital Iowa debate and Fred Thompson was strong. Which means Rudy’s third place hopes for Iowa are fading; good news for both McCain’s ambitions for a New Hampshire upset and Fred Thompson’s attempt to get back in the race by beating both McCain and Giuliani in Iowa with a strong third place showing. Meanwhile Huckabee was a little underwhelming – his style may be wearing a little thin; he has the polished Arkansas political habit of speaking to voters like they are slightly dense 9th graders – and Mitt Romney did very well, the best he’s been in a long time. Meanwhile, fascinating stuff is happening on the Democratic side. As the latest New Hampshire polls show Obama catching up to her in the Granite State, the S.S. “Inevitable” Hillary is listing hard to port with news reports of an on-deck squabble. I’m not surprised; nothing is uglier than a once-invincible frontrunner’s campaign hitting the big rocks as the election approaches. Something big will happen soon in Clinton land.
