So the caucuses were good for some and not so good for others. On the side of the donkey we have two senators (dodd and biden) dropping out of the race as Obama edges past Edwards and Clinton for the Iowa delegates. Whats surprising is that Edwards beat out Hillary Clinton for second. The talking heads are calling this a “debate between change and experience” this go round. Personally, I think people are beginning to see Hillary Clinton for what she is, and I hope it continues to New Hampshire.

The GOP pushed Huckabee to the front of the pack and gave him the nod and its my hope that he’s able to parlay this early win in to a string of them. I think an Obama vs. Huckabee general election in November could prove interesting and beneficial for the country. They both offer different views from previous holders of the office and most importantly, they both seem to know whats on the minds of the average person. Of which, there are a lot. It makes me wish I had real estate in NH and some of the early primary states so I could vote now, but I guess I’ll wait my turn. Georgia votes in February.

Caucus Outcome (top 3 in each party)

Democrat

1. Obama - 38%
2. Edwards - 30%
3. Clinton - 29%

GOP

1. Huckabee - 34%
2. Romney - 25%
3. Thompson - 13%
4. McCain - 13%

They don’t send out kids party invitations to people in either party reminding them about the Caucuses on January 3rd, people just know about them. If you’ve turned on a radio, tv or picked up a paper today then chances are fairly good you know about them as well. The opening of the political voting season is brought in with friends and neighbors meeting in schools, churches, halls and other meeting areas for a chance to literally stand up and be counted.

According to CNN the democratic caucuses actually require a person “voting” for one of the candidates to stand in the appropriate corner of the room for the candidate, while the GOP Caucuses take a secret ballot. I prefer the secret ballot as opposed to standing in my guy’s corner, after all, one of the two things you don’t discus with friends is politics.

It will be interesting to see who from the Democrat side walks away triumphant (Obama, Edwards and Clinton are in a tight three way race) and I’m even more excited to see which GOP frontrunner takes it and whether or not Thompson can garner enough votes to stay alive in the race.

Apparently, people like Mike because he looks like your average medical supplies salesman from the midwest (I don’t know if there are a lot of Med Supplies salesmen there, it just seems like something they’d have in the midwest, doesn’t it?). He took the opportunity over the holiday weekend to go pheasant hunting. Apparently the group he was with bagged three birds and he even snagged one of the little buggers himself quipping:

“Don’t get in my way,” he said while pointing to the three dead birds.
“This is what happens…You vote for me, you live. You don’t…there you go.”

Got to love a guy with a sense of humor (of course, the shotgun he’s holding helps a little too). The media sees his rise in the polls as an effect of his likability. He’s the favorite uncle everyone has when they’re growing up, as opposed to the really old one who continually tells you how it was when he was younger.