This blog follows the adventures of 19 students and faculty from George Mason University, and one middle schooler from Parkside Middle School as they travel through New Hampshire following the 2008 presidential candidates.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Super Tuesday Results
So, who watched the results? Can you predict now who will be the next President? What do you think of Huckabee's success? Any surprises?
First of all, it was as interesting as watching the general election result. I guess this presidential election is truly historic since all those people who previously neglected primaries showed up to express their political opinion, and this campaign is already hotter than any presidential elections that I could think of although it is still in the primary stage. As most people expected, I guess Sen. McCain strengthened his position as (R) front runner although he still has a long way to go to secure necessary delegations. Gov. Huckabee’s surprising victories really didn’t surprise me at all because I was pretty sure that he would do very well in the South and the Midwest. There are many religious conservative white voters in those areas, and I think Gov. Huckabee is the only candidate who still runs his campaign as their favorite son. Although he has very small chances to win the nomination, I think Gov. Huckabee still could add a lot of flavors and excitements in this campaign, which would be really bad news for Gov. Romney since he has to compete for evangelical votes in the South with Gov. Huckabee. In that sense, I guess at least Gov. Huckabee could easily win the VP ticket, since he could take care of Gov. Romney for Sen. McCain and he could be a great asset for Sen. McCain’s presidential bid. Sen. McCain really needs to win over the hardcore religious conservative voters to win the general election, and I think Gov. Huckabee could help him a lot in that area, especially in the South and the Midwest, which happen to be the Huckabee campaign’s main strength. Unless Sen. McCain makes a major mistake down the road, I think he could easily win the nomination. Ugly dogfights between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton seem to no end based on the last night’s result. It would get more aggressive and uglier, and Democrats might have an open convention for 2008 DNC. However, I think the Hilary campaign has an upper hand in terms of campaign organization and strategy. Even though Sen. Obama won more states than Sen. Clinton in number of winning states, Hilary campaign ended up with getting more delegations because she won strategically more important states, such as CA, NY, and MA. Really interesting thing about Obama campaign’s victories last night was that he won most of traditional red states in the South and the Midwest. What I see from this result is that Sen. Clinton would have an upper hand during the nomination process since she won many of important blue states, while Sen. Obama might have a better chance to win the general election since he did very well in traditional red states. It might be important point that Democrats should think about throughout the rest of primaries. Obviously, Democrats would want nominate someone who could beat Sen. McCain in general election, but they also have to nominate their party supporters’ favorite. It might be a great dilemma for Democrats for. I still don’t know who would be the next president, and I guess last night’s result only made me more confused. Both (D) and (R) need to reunite their parties after the convention, and I guess this general election is more about who could put their parties together better, since it would be more easier to reaching out to independent/undecided voters with the united front. It would be more difficult for Democrats since two great wings of their party, women and Black voters, went to different directions so far.
I'm surprised McCain did as well as he did, but I'm not surprised about Huckabee, especially in the south, where a large number of evangelicals are. I agree with Sam in that I think the McCain/Huckabee ticket could be a winning one. I think McCain's starting to get a little arrogant about being the front funner, which is a little understandable but at the same time there are still a lot of evangelical voters out there and he hasn't won them over yet. I think he'll win the nomination but Huckabee's numbers are going to continue to improve. As far as Hillary and Barrack are concerned, it's going to be a tight race til the very end, and I agree with Sam. Obama has the better chance of winning the general election, Hillary is much too polarizing. However, while yesterday was extremely important, I don't think it necessarily determined the candidates for each party!
2 comments:
First of all, it was as interesting as watching the general election result. I guess this presidential election is truly historic since all those people who previously neglected primaries showed up to express their political opinion, and this campaign is already hotter than any presidential elections that I could think of although it is still in the primary stage. As most people expected, I guess Sen. McCain strengthened his position as (R) front runner although he still has a long way to go to secure necessary delegations. Gov. Huckabee’s surprising victories really didn’t surprise me at all because I was pretty sure that he would do very well in the South and the Midwest. There are many religious conservative white voters in those areas, and I think Gov. Huckabee is the only candidate who still runs his campaign as their favorite son. Although he has very small chances to win the nomination, I think Gov. Huckabee still could add a lot of flavors and excitements in this campaign, which would be really bad news for Gov. Romney since he has to compete for evangelical votes in the South with Gov. Huckabee. In that sense, I guess at least Gov. Huckabee could easily win the VP ticket, since he could take care of Gov. Romney for Sen. McCain and he could be a great asset for Sen. McCain’s presidential bid. Sen. McCain really needs to win over the hardcore religious conservative voters to win the general election, and I think Gov. Huckabee could help him a lot in that area, especially in the South and the Midwest, which happen to be the Huckabee campaign’s main strength. Unless Sen. McCain makes a major mistake down the road, I think he could easily win the nomination. Ugly dogfights between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton seem to no end based on the last night’s result. It would get more aggressive and uglier, and Democrats might have an open convention for 2008 DNC. However, I think the Hilary campaign has an upper hand in terms of campaign organization and strategy. Even though Sen. Obama won more states than Sen. Clinton in number of winning states, Hilary campaign ended up with getting more delegations because she won strategically more important states, such as CA, NY, and MA. Really interesting thing about Obama campaign’s victories last night was that he won most of traditional red states in the South and the Midwest. What I see from this result is that Sen. Clinton would have an upper hand during the nomination process since she won many of important blue states, while Sen. Obama might have a better chance to win the general election since he did very well in traditional red states. It might be important point that Democrats should think about throughout the rest of primaries. Obviously, Democrats would want nominate someone who could beat Sen. McCain in general election, but they also have to nominate their party supporters’ favorite. It might be a great dilemma for Democrats for. I still don’t know who would be the next president, and I guess last night’s result only made me more confused. Both (D) and (R) need to reunite their parties after the convention, and I guess this general election is more about who could put their parties together better, since it would be more easier to reaching out to independent/undecided voters with the united front. It would be more difficult for Democrats since two great wings of their party, women and Black voters, went to different directions so far.
I'm surprised McCain did as well as he did, but I'm not surprised about Huckabee, especially in the south, where a large number of evangelicals are. I agree with Sam in that I think the McCain/Huckabee ticket could be a winning one. I think McCain's starting to get a little arrogant about being the front funner, which is a little understandable but at the same time there are still a lot of evangelical voters out there and he hasn't won them over yet. I think he'll win the nomination but Huckabee's numbers are going to continue to improve. As far as Hillary and Barrack are concerned, it's going to be a tight race til the very end, and I agree with Sam. Obama has the better chance of winning the general election, Hillary is much too polarizing. However, while yesterday was extremely important, I don't think it necessarily determined the candidates for each party!
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