Monday, January 29, 2007

Hillary Goes to Iowa, But the Reviews Are Mixed

The Washington Post has a story today about the mixed reaction that Hillary Clinton got in her first trip to Iowa in nearly three years this past weekend. The article also comments on just how wide open the race in Iowa is.

It seems that Hillary did win over some voters who go to see her be "warm" in small in home group gatherings in Iowa, but some voters were not enthused by her question answering sessions. Hillary avoided talking about Iraq at all and steered her comments toward her general support of the military...with no specifics on Iraq. This seemed to upset some voters.

The article also discusses that many Iowans see Barack Obama as the rock star, but are curious about his readiness and experience. My guess is if Obama can address this effectively he will walk away with this nomination, but he needs to start doing some talking about where he stands on the issues and how he will govern.

Even though John Edwards leads in the early polls in Iowa, the article discusses the fact that many voters do not feel enthusiastic about him. My thought behind this is that he is damaged goods that has not been able to win the nomination, or help the Kerry ticket win, before. Democratic voters want a clear and confident candidate that they know can win...they don't want to push another "best effort" to the front as a candidate.

So, with mixed reviews from the trip for Hillary we still don't know much, except that voters are taking their time to size up the candidates before they are ready to launch in and commit. Seems logical to me.

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