How to win

Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee demonstrated clearly how to win the November, 2008 Presidential Election:

Take your pitch from the bottom up, as opposed to the top down.

This wouldn't have worked 20 years ago, which is why Mitt Romney and Senator Clinton are in trouble. They come from the old school of politics, which is to explain what the government is going to do for you - from above. Obama and Huckabee have recognized middle class America's angst over paying for welfare, paying too much in personal taxes, paying too much for health care (but not wanting socialized health care because that would mean paying even more), personal wages being stagnated by American business (both small as well as corporate), exploding gas prices, and a host of other middle class related financial issues. Obama and Huckabee have addressed the needs, and it is immaterial at this point whether or not they can help middle class Americans...they have our attention, which is paramount.

Short of pulling a Tanya Harding and smashing the knee-cap of Barack Obama at an ice rink in New Hampshire, Senator Clinton is in huge trouble, and there may not be any way out of it at this point. She's bound to bring out the machete and start chopping, but I think mean-spirited scare tactics at this point will play right into Obama's subtle descriptions of what she's like anyways. He has painted her into a corner, and no amount of screaming, champagne bottle smashing, or whatever else went on in Iowa last night behind closed doors is going to seal the gash in her Titanic. She's a skilled behind-the-scenes litigator, but when she comes to the forefront, she's exposed as faux. The most famous example I can think of is the image she tries to portray that she's all about the "American Woman." She's all about the cut throat, mega-income, corporate, Mercedes 600 series driving woman, to be sure. But as for the middle class mom working for a living and/or running a small business while raising children and a household? You must be an idiot if you think she's about that. She has no idea what struggles the average Jane and Joe go through on a daily basis, and it shows in her personal presentation.

Mitt Romney can still take on Mike Huckabee, as he is acknowledged as an extremely likeable man - just like Huckabee. But that likeability has not come to the forefront fully, and he needs to kick it into gear over the next few weeks.

My early prediction: Obama will crush Clinton unless she can prove he wears dresses and hangs out in transsexual bars, slipping into the men's room to collect campaign contributions. She'll hang in there until the bitter end....but it will indeed be bitter. She'll lash out at him, and he'll maintain his cool and let her tactics be her own demise.

Romney and Huckabee will fight it out all the way until the end...with both candidates being either totally exhausted or totally energized by the battle. Neither will use particulary nasty tactics against the other, and of course one or the other will prevail.

In doing so,we may indeed have two seemingly honest men running from each party running it off on November 4th. Should be interesting; especially the part where Hillary throws her lasagna in her campaign manager's face.