Iowa

Well...it's over.  At least as this is written on the Republican side.  The beginning is over and now it's on to New Hampshire and the rest of the political process.  The Iowa caucuses are antiquated, inefficient, influenced by some pretty radical special interest groups, dependent on weather and turnout, and are decidedly unscientific.  But they are first.  And they do start everyone out of the gate.  And already a couple of the contenders have dropped out.  That is a good thing.  We need to get this thing down to a reasonable number.

So for the Republicans the order of finish is Cruz, Trump, and Rubio.  The rest don't matter.  To be sure, some of the others have focused on New Hampshire and subsequent states so they may do better as time unfolds.  But tonight it's Cruz, Trump, and Rubio.  But for my money there are really two stories.  The very big story is how well Rubio did.  No one expected him to get 23%.  No one.  I'm a Rubio supporter so I'm heartened by this result.  His speech tonight before his supporters was inspiring and uplifting.  I hope that if you're reading this and haven't decided, you'll consider Rubio.  He's the real deal.  Check it out...

Contrast Rubio with Trump.  That's the second story on the Republican side.  Trump lost.  He is consistently an inch deep and a mile wide.  Oh he's got the beautiful people on the stage and he thanked everyone, but he just seems pretty empty.  I've read his book.  I've listened to his speeches.  I've tried to imagine him as President.  I don't see it.  He also gave a speech tonight in Iowa.  For my money it was empty.  Nothing there.  Check it out...

And then there is Cruz.  I still think he's a bit of a sleaze.  And I think he won by a very direct pander to the evangelicals who are plentiful in Iowa.  I just can't help but think that wearing his religion on his sleeve is a bit disingenuous.  I like some of the stuff he says, but for some reason he just rubs me wrong.  I'm just not sure I'd trust him.  And I don't think I'd turn my back on him.  I'm listening to his speech and it is going on and on and on.  He is just so...I don't know...smarmy!  To me he fulfills the old definition of a cynic to a tee..."someone who knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing".  He is one of those guys who believes he is absolutely right about everything.  Remind you of anyone?  Maybe another first term Senator who now occupies the White House.  How he would get anything done in the Washington bureaucracy is beyond me.  He would be polarizing and would drown out dissent.  Or at least he would try to drown it out.  But I fear he would be just as ineffective as Obama.  But...and this is a big but...I'd vote for him every day over Hillary.

Speaking of Hillary.  So she suffers a humiliating defeat 8 years ago from an unknown first term Senator from Illinois.  Now she gets taken down to the wire in what is looking like a dead-heat by a 74 year old Socialist.  Humiliating!  So now they go on to New Hampshire where he will beat her like a tight drum.  After all, he's from next door Vermont.  And then things will dissolve for him as the Clinton machine and the big money donors kick in.  There were a couple of things interesting in her speech tonight.  Maybe I'm superficial, but I don't think I've ever seen more makeup on a political candidate.  Seriously, I thought that if she smiled too big, maybe her face would crack.  This was clearly designed to appeal to (fool) younger voters.  Second was Bubba.  He was standing behind her and he looked...well...out of it.  None of the fun-loving tomfoolery was evident.  This is another indicator that they are worried.  But she shouldn't be worried about Bernie, she should be worried about Loretta Lynch and Jim Comey.  As the days go by and the news gets worse, it's clear that she broke the law.  And not like a jay-walking breaking of the law.  This one is a doozy.  She had Top Secret Special Access Program (SAP) material on her unsecured server.  If that doesn't result in an indictment, then I truly don't know what would.  Anyway, that's for another day.  Here is her speech.  She is scary.  And awful.  And yesterday.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  How anyone could support her is way beyond me.