Presidential Campaign Now

With all of the talk about how badly Florida had goofed in moving its presidential primary up one week (and suffering penalties from the two parties), it is pretty surprising to me to note that, on the heels of that primary, the race has now suddenly crystallized into a two-candidate struggle in each party (I put Mike Huckabee way back in third for the Republicans). Most "experts" had expected Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat John Edwards to stay in the race at least until after the Super Tuesday primaries on February 5. But right after Florida, both bowed out with Giuliani turning around and endorsing John McCain. Edwards is apparently guarding his options, waiting to see whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama prevails next week. I'd be surprised if he didn't end up endorsing Obama, barring a landslide Super Tuesday victory for Clinton.

I'm a little bit miffed at how much some in the media are making of the campaign "fight" between Clinton and Obama. Of course, they're going to stress their own perceived strong points and the other's perceived weaknesses. That's not dirty, grudge politics, though. It's just good, effective "hardball" campaigning (with a nod to MSNBC's excellent Chris Matthews). I remember back in 1980, just before the presidential election between incumbent Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan, the press suddenly began relaying accusations of "meanness" at Carter. Which I never could figure out. The same sort of struggle is going on with the Republicans as well, with McCain and Romney really starting to tear at each other's records. I say "GOOD" to all of this! This is the time that we need to sort through the candidates' pasts and get a read on their true opinions and character. After all, whomever we elect to be the next president is going to be in there for the next four (and possibly eight) years. And he or she will have great sweeping powers, most notably the power of war vs. peace, as well as the future composition of the United States Supreme Court. Let's try to figure them out now before it's too late!