Over the Hillary

Great, early news on the ground in Iowa for John Edwards, who continues to consolidate his support among caucus-goers. Most of the media has chosen to focus on Edwards' front-runner status, but the more interesting aspects of this poll are Obama's hard number (13%) and Hillary's decline since the last poll (from 26% to 16%). To focus on the Hillary issue, it seems that this new poll displays not only how weak her support is when it comes to actual voters, but also that after all this time in front of the nation, Iowans at least aren't buying what she will most likely be selling. As for Vilsack, the single digit showings don't help much.

This Alfonse D'Amato quote from a Friday New York Times article seems misdirected and more applicable to Senator Barack Obama and not D'Amato's object of affection, Ms. Clinton: "“My Republican colleagues would do well to take notice of a very focused, energetic, organized, articulate, bright senator who, if she does run for president, should be taken as a very, very serious candidate.” Change the "she" to a "he" and you've got a truism (again, someone all about that Clinton "energy"...please, stop, please). Also note that D'Amato actually believes Giuliani would run as McCain's VP on the GOP ticket. Evidence of delusions? Perhaps D'Amato has seen a submissive side to Rudy no one else has...

An obvious link from the Huffington Post, but a significant glimpse into the fact that the Obama's actually live in the real world (unlike, that "energetic" Hillary!). A quote from Obama:“Being shot, obviously, that is the least-attractive option... Now I will tell you, this is something, this is one of the least-attractive — not the part about being shot, obviously, that is the least-attractive option. But even just having a security apparatus around you; one of the things that I have been very proud over the last several years, is, for all the hoopla, I am not an entourage guy. . . I have been accessible, and Michelle and I have gone out of our way not to change our habits. Even if I am not to run for president, the crush of attention has created a different set of problems.”

Hopefully polls like this from the Wall Street Journal are reflecting America's true collective wisdom. The poll notes that "eight in 10 Americans would be 'comfortable' or 'enthusiastic' about an African-American or woman running for president," and also notes that if you want to be elected President in 2008, it's worse to be connected to the Bush Administration than to be gay.

An excellent quote from Chris Matthews this week, an aside the host made to his live Hardball audience during a break from taping a show with Senator John Edwards: "This is not hardball, this is batting practice. This guy is killing me. He couldn't do this four years ago."

Sounds like 2004 taught at least one Democratic nominee how to better communicate his message. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Edwards on the scene.