Iowa

I still don't understand why voters in any states that get to vote between now and February 5th ("Super Duper Tuesday" as I like to call it), would let anything that any idiot on TV says about their potential candidate change their vote. Actually, the people on the TV shouldn't have any influence. Pundits are just opinionated people who have managed to find their way onto the TV because they moved up some ladder from some previous job or moved sideways from some political job. They are the equivalent of TV lobbyists. They carry an air of impartiality, but nearly everyone of them would sell their own child to fluff John McCain. I mean, the guy finished fourth, behind Fred Thompson and barely ahead of Ron Paul, and Mike Allen of Politico is on TV talking about how McCain is the story...other than Obama, of course. I do think that McCain is genius for plying reporters with alcohol back in 2000. I mean, get some reporters drunk on your straight talk train and they will completely overlook when you sell out your core principles four years later to get someone who slimed you in the worst way elected president and will continue to overlook your overt conservatism to declare you "genuine," "straight-talking" and "moderate."

It's the same with Clinton's third place finish. Yes, it's a disappointment, but did I really need to hear Gloria Borger tell me that Hillary was cold and Barack was excited? Couldn't I just watch and make a judgement for myself? Hillary Clinton has raised a lot of cash and isn't going anywhere. Carl Bernstein told me 70% of D's in Iowa voted against her...gasp! By that genius logic, 62% of D's in Iowa voted against the winner! Wow, people are split on who they think should be president. Five days from now, Hillary Clinton could finish first in NH, John Edwards and Obama a close second and third. This is not my prediction, I'm just throwing out a scenario. What does that mean? It means people are still split on who they think should be president. And while the press will be in a frenzy, you know what that means at the end of the day? Nothing, because it's two small states that are in the bottom quartile of delegates to the D's national convention and are unlikely to swing the national election. So when these guys go crazy because Obama got 16,000 more votes than Hillary in IA (which translates to all of a two delegate spread), people should just tune it out, watch what the candidates have to say and then turn off the TV.

But not me, I like going all Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the pundits. I can't quite capture the sound of Chris Matthews spitting all over everyone though.