pluto foc for bringing his garbage into the REAL CANDIDATES thread and not putting it into the shitheap
Huckabee has gigantic money issues and I think he'll be unable to mount a credible reprisal to the ravaging Ronmey and Rudy are going to put on him in the next few weeks. He has alienated the country club republicans-the ones that have the cash-and without them he'll run out of cash in this compressed primary season. Make no mistake though-the evangelicals have their man, and if he did win in Iowa it would be a huge thing for that part of the party (and help accelerate the GOP's slide to regional relevancy only).
I think Romney will bounce back a bit. He's done well to keep in cahoots with the moneyholders and powerbrokers, while keeping close enough to social conservatism that if the choice comes down to him versus Rudy, he's well placed to get them to vote for him even if he is a heretical monster because the alternative is a serial adulterer and urban yankee moral compromiser.
Rudy's probably in the most trouble right now-his plan of attack for the primaries is very backloaded, and if he has an early run of poor performance his organization and supporters will evaporate. He's really got to find a way to torpedo either Romney or Huckabee ( I say he goes for Romney ) to keep from a bad streak of third place showings early on. His biggest problem right now is the skeletons in his closet and they will keep dragging him down-he just has to tear someone else down faster.
Wouldn't ever vote for any of those shitwits myself.
On the dem side:
Hillary is well-positioned, well-funded, and still in good shape. The race is getting closer but she's still ahead, still popular, and still has the best team in the business working for her. I think she'll win Iowa and then run the table.
Obama desparately needs to win in Iowa to make this a race, the problem I think with him is that the turnout for his supporters will not be as solid as Hillary's, and that will make the difference.
Edwards is my favorite candidate by far and supposedly has the killer Iowa organization, but I don't see it reaping the kind of large uptick over the polls at the caucuses themselves. Organization takes a squeaker and makes it a win, as a rule, but it won't win the campaign for you. His best hope right now is that Obama and Clinton nuke each other into oblivion with the voters-but the problem is there that the voters are in large part distracted by the holiday season. There's not enough campaign blitz runway for them to really reject BOTH top two candidates.
