Well, it's over, and I’m looking forward to peace and quiet!
You think I’m talking about the holiday season? No. I’m talking about the Iowa Caucuses. (I’d say Hawkeye Cauckeye, but I’m not sure how to spell that.) When we returned home from vacation, the answering machine was full with political calls. The mail was full of political mailings. The airwaves had back-to-back-to-back political ads. Here in Iowa, we’ve been deluged with politics--the first ads began last January, about 30 days after the last general election. The rest of you should be grateful you don’t have to go through that!
But we do appreciate being able to see the candidates up close. Last night, our county held all our caucuses at one location (which was not nearly big enough). For an hour before the caucus starting time, candidates could speak, and they did. First came Mike Huckabee (huckster is a better term), passing himself off as a conservative, with multiple scriptural references to make sure people remember he is an evangelical Christian. Then came Ron Paul, with his fiery defense of the Constitution, followed by Ann Romney, Mitt’s wife. These were IN PERSON, and Kevin and I were in the third row. Where else could you have national presidential candidates parade by like they were local mayoral candidates??? We also heard from Dr. Hugh Cort, a presidential candidate who either is a nut-case or has a really scary scenario about suitcase-nuclear bombs being smuggled in by illegals. The other candidates had a surrogate to speak for them, except Rudy Guiliani who didn’t do anything.
We were disappointed in the preference tally, and the setback to Mitt Romney. Although not a perfect candidate, we thought he would do a good job as president. After seeing some of the campaigning Huckabee has done, if he became the Republican candidate I’d ALMOST rather vote democratic. The ugly head of religious bigotry has come forth again (I thought that was relegated to the 19th century), and Huckabee is at the front. Even more troubling is that there has been no outcry from the other candidates or the general populace. It will be interesting to see if the Huckster can delude the voters of other states.
But we do appreciate being able to see the candidates up close. Last night, our county held all our caucuses at one location (which was not nearly big enough). For an hour before the caucus starting time, candidates could speak, and they did. First came Mike Huckabee (huckster is a better term), passing himself off as a conservative, with multiple scriptural references to make sure people remember he is an evangelical Christian. Then came Ron Paul, with his fiery defense of the Constitution, followed by Ann Romney, Mitt’s wife. These were IN PERSON, and Kevin and I were in the third row. Where else could you have national presidential candidates parade by like they were local mayoral candidates??? We also heard from Dr. Hugh Cort, a presidential candidate who either is a nut-case or has a really scary scenario about suitcase-nuclear bombs being smuggled in by illegals. The other candidates had a surrogate to speak for them, except Rudy Guiliani who didn’t do anything.
We were disappointed in the preference tally, and the setback to Mitt Romney. Although not a perfect candidate, we thought he would do a good job as president. After seeing some of the campaigning Huckabee has done, if he became the Republican candidate I’d ALMOST rather vote democratic. The ugly head of religious bigotry has come forth again (I thought that was relegated to the 19th century), and Huckabee is at the front. Even more troubling is that there has been no outcry from the other candidates or the general populace. It will be interesting to see if the Huckster can delude the voters of other states.
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Would that be Hawkeye Caucii? Cauckii? You're right, there's no good way to spell that!
ReplyDeleteI've heard several times that Iowa was a great state for Huckabee, but he won't do as well in most other states. Cross your fingers.
On a (slightly) related note, a few days ago at lunch, Connor burst out with "what the huck". I couldn't believe what he said, so I asked him to say it again. "What the huck, mommy?" What!??! So he got it from his preschool friend, and we had a talk about it, but I'm guessing it came out as 'huck' because he's been hearing "huckabee" and "huckleberry" quite often...
Catherine