Tsunami Tuesday, only the beginning
There’s a lot of ongoing debate over tomorrow’s tsunami-sized, 24-state primary vote. With all the regular blather coming from the 24 hour news commentary, the incessant positioning of political pundits, the numerous educated guesses being made by analysts on TV, Web, and in print, and the continual debate about the destruction and corruption of the political process in America, it’s easy to forget that the 2008 Presidential horse & buggy has only just left the stable.
If I had to make predictions – and honestly I have no reason to believe that my predictions are worth the electronic screens they’re replicated on – I would predict that by the end of tomorrow John McCain will be in good position for the Republican nomination, and the Democrats will still be in a very close and tight race between Clinton and Obama. I’d also venture to say that Romney will continue to campaign, at least until the next primary on Saturday, February 9th, but more likely until the “not-so-super” Tuesday, March, 4th, at which point – unless his campaign is able to reverse course, start over, or become the beneficiary of some major event – he will drop out.
Of course, what’s still not so certain, is whether we will see a third party candidate enter the race. There’s long been speculation that New York City Mayor, Micheal Bloomberg may enter the race. Although he has repeatedly said he is not a running a campaign, he continues to grow his political entourage, which suggests that he is still weighing his options. Even more telling is the book, Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System, written by Douglas Schoen, one of Bloomberg’s political strategists, which argues that the two party system is corrupt and bloated, and that the nation needs to be saved by a third party candidate. Declaring Independence goes on sale tomorrow.
With all the speculation, all the debate, all the nauseating, spun, one-sided talk, only one thing is certain: there are still nine months to go.