Iowa, that wonderful combination of patriotism and payola, is finally behind us. New Hampshire and South Carolina are next. What do these first competitions tell us? Sometimes, not much. Much like a preseason football game, the participants risk a season ending injury while the winner gets little more than bragging rights.
The Iowa Caucuses are over, but the Cunix Caucus has just begun. My last blog gave my readers the opportunity to predict the eventual Republican nominee and the winners of the 2012 Presidential and U.S. Senate races. Fifteen of you chose to participate. The results will be published this time next year.
Making predictions is tricky. Some of my prognosticators voted with their heads. Some used their hearts. At least two reflected the real mood of the country. And that mood is nervous.
My friend Dave, a guy who absolutely despises President Obama, predicted his reelection. My friend Sandra, an unabashed Liberal, had Mitt Romney as the winner this November. They have lost faith in the voting public and are positive that their candidate is going to lose.
This pessimism is reflected in the Right Direction / Wrong Track polling. The January 4, 2012 polling revealed that 71% of the American public believes that we are on the wrong track. 71%! Some feel that the President is taking us towards European style Socialism. Others are sure that the Republicans are obstructing the President and preventing the Democrats from reviving the economy.
As always, there is plenty of blame for everyone involved.
As of today, January 9, 2012, all fifteen participants in the Cunix Caucus are batting 1000. We will eventually have a winner. It could even be me. I just hope that the guy who gets elected, and now that Mrs. Bachmann is gone it will be a guy, will be the choice of the majority of the American people, not just someone who manages to score a plurality of the small minority of US citizens who bother to vote.
And now for something entirely different.
Fragile
The strongest porcelain vase would shatter into a thousand pieces if it was pushed off of a shelf. This beautiful vase had only been tipped a time or two. Still, I could see the results. A tiny crack here. A chip or two reattached with Super Glue there. It was no longer perfect, thus even more valuable than it had ever been before.