Well, as I wrote earlier, I was going to give it my best shot to do another entry tonight – so lo and behold – here’s Part 2!!
Take a VERY close look at the picture below - it contains the face of the next President of the United States. A sobering thought - if you needed one, that is.
I don’t know how the non-political types are faring in Iowa right now – because even I can feel “caucus anticipation” simply through the TV screen. I’ll bet that they’ll have their own celebration this coming Friday morning!!
2 days to go: Can it get any closer? Can it get any more heated? The answers are ”probably not” and “YES!!”. If Mike Huckabee upends the Romney 'machine', even by just a couple of percentage points, and if Hillary Clinton loses by any margin – this is a different race - for the foreseeable future. McCain gets renewed traction in New Hampshire, and Obama closes in on the Clinton lead there as well.
Anderson spoke with Gloria Borger, Candy Crowley and John King about what the latest Iowa polls are showing, the Iowa Caucus process, and the Romney-Huckabee and Clinton-Obama “battles”. Does John Edwards still have a chance? Will a last-minute Iowa “surge” by John McCain make any difference? Well, we’ll all know for sure in another 48 hours or so.
Anderson also talked with Tom Foreman (also in Iowa right now) about the latest round of attack ads and whether or not they’re still effective. Tom’s verdict? Although voters tend to say they are turned off by them, there are still enough voters that are ‘influenced’ to some extent by them, so the days of negative ‘slaps’ will continue on ...
Candy Crowley also had a terrific report on those dubbed “the underdogs” on the Democratic side of this campaign – Senators Biden and Dodd and Governor Richardson. What startling statistics – almost 100 years of irrefutable public service among them – and only a combined 12% of support in the state of Iowa. While Clinton and Obama duke it out over what constitutes “legitimate governmental experience”, any one of those men trumps either Clinton or Obama in the “experience” category without batting an eyelash. And yet all three are languishing in the polls, both in Iowa and nationally. I just don’t understand it. Perhaps it’s a subtle, yet unfortunate, reflection of our country’s ‘celebrity obsession’.
Tiger Attack Update: David Mattingly was in San Francisco and reported on developments in the SF Zoo tiger attack on Christmas Day. There is continuing speculation that the tiger was taunted, possibly by rocks or other objects shot at it by slingshots. The fact that the two “friends” of Carlos Sousa Jr. haven’t even contacted his father to offer condolences or any kind of explanation as to what happened doesn’t speak very highly in their defense. Anderson also interviewed Jack Hanna and while he agrees that the tiger enclosure should be renovated, he also didn’t appear to have much sympathy for the two survivors, nor should he (or anyone else) if the allegations prove to be true.
Bhutto cover-up: Matthew Chance reported on new evidence showing that Benazir Bhutto was, in fact, killed by a bullet wound as opposed to shrapnel or a blunt trauma blow to her head. Anderson also talked with Peter Bergen; they discussed the fact that the assassination has made Musharref even less popular than he already was. The dossier that Bhutto was allegedly going to give US officials about Pakistani corruption regarding US aid being used to spy on political opponents doesn’t seem to be a motive for the assassination, as al Qaeda and the Taliban don’t believe in the democratic process to begin with. I still find it difficult to believe that the government had absolutely nothing to do with what has happened, but time will tell. Elections have been postponed until mid-February, although Bhutto’s party will probably not lose much, if any, support that it already enjoys.
Oh yeah – Anderson ‘reviewed’ the NYE celebration with Kathy Griffin. Since he apparently enjoyed the ‘sparring’ and the ratings will probably be good, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her back. Much to my (overall) disappointment.
And Gary returned to do the news bulletins – maybe if he can’t convince AC to run in the NYC Marathon, perhaps there’s an alternate “rollerblading” marathon that Anderson could take part in. Except that Gary would need to teach him how to rollerblade first ... oh well, it was an interesting thought!
Thanks very much for visiting - updates posted as needed - and one more time - Happy 2008!!
2 comments:
Newsblooz: Your post and collage are great, and frankly a little frightening! The fact that Richardson, Biden, and Dodd, are underdogs does say something about our country’s obsession with celebrities. However, there is nothing subtle about our obsession and that is what some of the candidates are counting on, look who they are getting to do their recruiting for them. I must be in the minority because I am totally turned off by celebrity pimping.
Whoever loses in Iowa will not have much time to recover now that many of the primaries have been moved up, so Iowa has become even more important.
In regards to the tiger attack, if the reports are true, I agree with Jack Hanna. What were those “young men” doing in the zoo on Christmas Day with slingshots? Gee that’s a tough one!
I also find it hard to believe that the government did not have anything to do with Benazir Bhutto’s death. Scotland Yard is being brought in so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, they turn up.
Let’s hope you are wrong and CNN will choose a different co-host for New Year’s Eve 2008. You know they might want to look in their own backyard. What about Erica? Is anyone else better able to handle Anderson’s mischief?
Wouldn’t you pay to see Anderson doing the marathon with or without rollerblades? Ha!
Great cap of Anderson and Gary, they both look really handsome! I can’t wait to read your interview with Gary!!
Thanks! I generally don't like celebrity political 'pimping' either. The 'honest' ones will tell you that Hollywood stars are (generally) some of the least 'informed' people on the planet, and have no business making 'endorsements'.
You know - I was thinking the exact same thing about "political recovery time". Most don't have much, if any. But for those that do, well ...
Whenever I've heard an analyst say, for example, that Hillary might be 'done' if she loses both Iowa and NH, I laugh. Heartily. The Hill won't stop unless she becomes mathematically eliminated - on the convention floor. Not that I'm suggesting it would get to that point.
I would very much like to see Erica as a 'true' NYE co-host, or perhaps Stephen Colbert, as was suggested at the group. Just IMO, of course!
I think the AC/GT cap may end up being one of my all-time faves - nice!! :-)
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