Keep it going

Here's a link to the Register's final pre-New Hampshire editorial, hoping the election isn't resolved too quickly so there can be a more extensive debate/discussion on the future of the country. I have a love/hate relationship with electoral politics (I don't participate myself except as an observer/commentator), and I ordinarily consider politics grubby and undesirable. But things may be a little different this year. I hope the major parties' choices are not resolved too early.

The race is on

Here's a link to the piece I did for the Register's Sunday Commentary section today on the presidential race. On the Democratic side, in the wake of Iowa Hillary is looking much less inevitable, while Huckabee's win has put the Republican race into a certain amount of confusion, although Giuliani's strategy of focusing on Florida and beyond just might work. Having been in New Hampshire for a couple of days, I expect Obama to win here, and McCain on the Republican side. I expect Ron Paul to do better here than the 10 percent he pulled in Iowa, but the race is really up in the air. Local TV stations report that their polls show 39 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Republicans are either undecided or open to changing their minds between now and Tuesday. Plus 40 percent of New Hampshire voters are registered Independent and they can vote in either primary.

Having a great time in New Hampshire

I've been in New Hampshire since Friday night, and I've been having a great time. I attended parts of the Free State Project's Liberty Forum, and was impressed with the incredible enthusiasm of these libertarian-minded people who have decided to move to New Hampshire to influence the political climate of the state. I also attended the ABC News/Facebook debates at Saint Anselm College Saturday night and blogged real-time incessantly throughout the debates. Went to Ron Paul's speech at the Free State Project today, which got an incredibly enthusiastic response.

I'll put up a few more posts on specific aspects of my trip, but if you want a fairly complete picture, go to the Register's Horserace'08 blog. Be sure to hit the "more" button if you want to see all the posts. I've been a busy boy!

In New Hampshire

Well, it's been a little while. I'll post one that I wrote in Las Vegas over the Christmas-New Year holiday but couldn't get up there because the wireless on the laptop wasn't working. After vacation it was time to get ready to go to New Hampshire to blog for the Register and cover at least a bit of the days leading up to the primary on Tuesday. Making sure I remembered everything and packed everything while trying to leave behind an editorial or two for the Register and a column for Sunday pretty much took all my time.

I'll be at the debate tomorrow night -- tonight, really, I guess, at least New Hampshire time -- at St. Anselm's College, where those still standing (or limping) after Iowa from both parties will debate. I'm planning to live-blog as much of the debate as possible, for the Register's HorseRace '08 blog, and will put a few soundbites from the spin room onto the blog as well. I'll try to slip a few observations into this blog as well, but if you want it in something resembling real time go to the Register's blog (I know who pays me). I'll also attend at least some of the FreeState convention scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday (with Ron Paul as featured speaker).

A lot has happened -- assassinations in Pakistan, riots in Kenya, violence in Iraq, bombings in Turkey -- that I hope to discuss. Then there was Huckabee surprising (well, maybe not after the Des Moines Register poll) and Ron Paul getting into double digits, which I told phone callers who asked was possible, but I wasn't all that confident. The MSM can't ignore him or treat him merely as a novelty. Of course, the money, something that actually impresses the media, played a big role as well, but actually getting into double-digits validates his appeal.