On the Eve in New Hampshire

February 2, 2016. OK, Iowa was fun …
    · Hillary & Bernie finished in a dead heat. Not the best news for Bernie. If he can’t beat her among the legions of progressives who make up the Iowa Democrats, where can he beat her? (OK, yes, in New Hampshire, where this morning he seems to be holding a 17-point lead -- something like 58-41 -- but don’t expect a margin like that to stand up.) And down the road, I don’t see unionized Hispanics rallying to Sanders in the Nevada caucus, which is No. 3 on the campaign slog; and I certainly can’t imagine Sanders winning a majority of South Carolina Democrats. The majority of SC Dems are Black.
    · Marco Rubio finished third on the GOP side, grabbed all the TV attention with a pre-11 PM {ET} victory speech -- and pretty much nailed it. He “won” Iowa ‘16 the same way Gene McCarthy won New Hampshire ‘68, just by exceeding expectations; or, doing the very thing Hillary will do next week when she loses NH by “only” seven points.
    · And a big shout out to the sheer chutzpah of the Clintons. The once (& future?) First Family stormed the stage en masse for her stridently bizarro victory speech -- while, on the other half of the TV screen, Ted Cruz was still luxuriating in his no-surprise win.
    · Look, kudos to Marco, but leave us not get carried away. Sixty-three percent of the GOP votes -- 28% to Ted, 24% to Donald, 9% to Dr. Ben, 2% or so to Carly -- went to Rank Outsiders. Iowa! Good God-fearing, Bible-thumping, Hawkeye-stubborn, high-school wrestling, shirt-off-their-backs-should-your-crop-ever-fail, “Field of Dreams” Iowa, where the economy is good, and almost two out of three went with the haters, the prigs, the rabble-rousers & the idiots. Hell, Rand Paul, who probably isn’t a GOP insider, either, even though, at least for now, he is a sitting United States senator, did better than all four of the past & present GOP governors on the ballot!
    · And finally, Bill Clinton looks as if he’s had a stroke. … And when Ted Cruz gets close enough to the nomination to panic the GOP hierarchy, they’ll destroy him -- by leaking everything they have on him in the X-Files.