You Heard It Here First

With all the talk of how Rudy Giuliani will undoubtably be the Republican nominee, I find a need to interject myself. Rudy is indeed the national frontrunner, but so was Howard Dean on the Democratic side back in '04, and we all know how that turned out. I see a very similar thing happening this year with the GOP race.

It looks highly improbable that Rudy will win the Iowa caucuses on January 3. That honor will go to Mitt Romney. Romney is already ahead in New Hampshire and an Iowa win would just propel his campaign even more there. I predict that Romney will move on from a win in Iowa to win the New Hampshire primaries. At that point, the national media won't be able to get enough of Romney and Rudy will be all but forgotten.

Up next on the tumultuous primary calender is South Carolina. Now, if you asked me a month ago, I would have said South Carolina would be where Rudy could stop Romney. But now, I just don't think so. Romney has gained several key evangelical endorsements and his popularity in the south is on the rise. It seems as if southern evangelicals might be getting over their fear of Romney's Mormonism. Romney has been ahead by a decent margin in the last several South Carolina polls. This leads me to believe that Romney's momentum from Iowa and New Hampshire would propel him to a huge win in South Carolina.

Florida comes up about a week after South Carolina and most people who have studied politics, including myself, believe that as goes Florida, so goes the GOP nomination. In other words, whomever wins Florida will be the Republican nominee. But this is where I differ from just about everyone else in my views. I keep hearing that because Giuliani is ahead of Romney by about 15% in Florida, Romney will be stopped dead in his tracks. To those who think that, I would just like to ask them why they're so willing to throw out everything history has taught us about Presidential primaries. Momentum is key. If Romney wins Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, there is no way he could lose in Florida. The polls that matter the most right now are those in the early caucus and primary states, and those show that momentum is with Romney. Giuliani will not be able to go almost an entire month without winning a single key primary and still stay in the fight. Nobody wants to or is going to vote for a loser.

That is why, right here, right now, I am predicting that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. Trust me, I can't wait to rub it in the media's faces when their crowned prince, Giuliani, loses.

The Fallout Continues

Six more Americans died in Iraq Tuesday despite the surge in troops that started many months ago.  Those deaths pushed the total of Americans killed in Iraq to a record level for 2007, surpassing the previous level in 2004.  Our troops are still being killed by road side bombs, and in the 56th month of this war, our men and women in uniform still do not have the proper equipment to keep them safe.  The fallout caused by this war still continues over WMD that did not exist.

 

At the same time it has been reported by Colita Baldor of the Associated Press that the Pentagon is quietly looking for ways to make it easier for people with criminal records to join the military because of higher recruiting goals.  The fallout from this unnecessary war has no bottom.  The reckless way Mr. Bush took this country to war in Iraq has had a negative effect on our young men and women who are of age to serve their country. 

 

Every journalist in America should be asking Mr. Bush every day when he is going to end this war and bring our troops home safely.  One would think that after 56 months Mr. Bush can give the country an answer.  Three months after Mr. Bush started this war he landed on an aircraft carrier and proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" and "Major Combat Operations" have ended.  Fifty three months later the Commander in Chief is still in denial.