Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Thursday 1/29/2004

Welcome to My World, where granted nothing is final until after the convention and anything can happen, but I think by this time next week we'll have a pretty good idea who the Democrat's standard bearer will be this coming November. John Kerry, the Senator from Massachussets, got the quinella, topping his Iowa Caucus victory with a decisive win in New Hampshire's primary. Kerry, sporting a more stylish hairdo and whiter teeth, now has mach one momentum going into next Tuesday's donnybrook that includes the Arizona primary. In all, seven states will be involved. Kerry, whose campaign had gone to hell in a handbasket just weeks ago after using the F word for all to hear, suddenly came under the mantle of old school liberal and fellow Massachussets Senator Ted Kennedy, the most vicious of all Bush haters, I mean his Senate floor harangues qualified for toxic waste, and that turned it around for Kerry. Howard Dean, reducing his rhetoric and blood pressure, finished 2nd, 13 points behind, but the Gore endorsee still thinks runner up is good enough to win. Young, handsome John Edwards, whom I suspect could end up as the number two man on the ticket next fall, finished 3rd, tied with retired General Wesley Clark, whose poor showing does not bode well for the Clinton's grip on the Democratic Party. It looks like Hillary and Bill may have chosen an Army mule instead of a race horse to ride back to Pennsylvania Avenue. Joe Lieberman was fifth, but says he'll battle all the way to the convention. I think he'll do well next week, but by super Tuesday, will bail and throw his support to the front runner, as long as it's not Howard Dean. And of course, here's Dennis Kucinich tagging the New Hampshire pack. I think like Al Sharpton, he'll go all the way to the Convention, enjoying his short burst of national attention. What I'm seeing so far in this process is not so much candidates against candidates, but three, maybe four, separate ideologies pulling against each other. If they resolve the issues, they could give President Bush a run for his money, which he has more of. If they don't, they won't even have to worry about counting the hanging chads in Florida this time, as I see it ... I'm H.G. Listiak.