Where Things Stand

Nine days to go before the crucial primaries in Texas and right here in Ohio. Two smaller states, Rhode Island and Vermont, also vote on March 4.

Most of the action and excitement continues to center on the Democratic contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Although the polls for these two states show either a draw (Texas) or a modest lead for Clinton (Ohio), the political smart money figures Obama’s 11 straight victories since Super Tuesday give him valuable momentum to win one, if not both, of these two biggies. Further, the developing collective wisdom says that, unless Clinton wins both Texas and Ohio, her campaign will be effectively over. I’m not so sure. Losing both will, I agree, definitely knock her out. But, a victory in either Texas or, more likely here, could provide an argument to continue on to the next (and last) really big prize, Pennsylvania on April 22. One good way, Caterham students, to keep up with all the day-to-day developments on the ground over here is to check the following link: www.realclearpolitics.com. It’s got everything you could want – delegate counts; editorials; excellent analysis. Be sure to get back to me with your comments on what I’m saying or anything that captures your interest on the realclear web-site.

Meanwhile, not discussed as much because it’s essentially over, the Republican race heated up over the last few days. That occurred not because anyone really thinks Mike Huckabee can wrest the nomination from the now-prohibitive favorite John McCain. Rather, the fireworks began when Thursday’s New York Times ran a front-page story intimating that McCain, nine years ago, had a “romantic relationship” with a Washington lobbyist thirty years his junior. Both McCain and the woman lobbyist have denied they were anything other than friends. And, in a perverse, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” mode, many conservatives in the Republican party, initially luke-warm at best to McCain, have now rallied to his side. As a final, ironic point, it was only a few weeks ago that the Times endorsed for the Republican nomination – you guessed it – John McCain! Does the phrase “politics makes strange bedfellows” have some applicability here?

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your predictions for the Democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio? Why do you think so?

2. What do you think of the New York Times story on McCain? If you were the editor, would you have printed the story? Why or why not?