Mirsky's List : Reporting on NH Primary, Iowa on Deck

This is David Mirsky reporting from the frontlines of #Election2016 in Exeter, New Hampshire.

The Iowa Caucuses are tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 1, and everything here in New Hampshire is up in the air and going crazy. There are too many Republican candidates!

I want to make sure you realize, before you read any further, that I am supporting a candidate in this election, so you have to view what I say through that filter. I’m supporting Hilary Clinton for President this time around. In previous years I have supported a variety of other types of candidates, but that is not important today ...

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The first thing to note is that whatever happens tomorrow in Iowa, that won’t count here in New Hampshire. Iowa may weed someone out, but that really only matters if you are willing to believe some political reporter from a national magazine or television network, when they spew out whatever spin the candidates have fed them. The reality is, it’s the voters who decide.

So here is my view of the current status of things for the New Hampshire Primary, which takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016:

REPUBLICANS
1. The leaders in Iowa may be real estate developer Donald Trump from New York and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas, but the real race that matters in New Hampshire is the race for the GOP moderate vote. Leading that race right now is Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. But John Kasich has one big problem, which is that his views are much more like those of a moderate Democrat. This means that former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, has a very strong chance to win here. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is also in contention, but Christie suffers from the fact that nobody here in political circles has forgotten that Christie has some sort of problem involving blocking up the George Washington Bridge for political purposes. And that may hurt Christie. So it’s really a tossup between Bush and Kasich. I wonder what former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu has to say about this? Stay tuned.

2. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida. Marco Rubio is being presented in New Hampshire as a motivating speaker with a very youthful appearance. It remains to be seen whether this will translate into votes. Rubio was originally presented as some sort of Tea Party leader, but he has ditched that persona completely here in New Hampshire, and all I know for sure about him now is that his position on immigration has changed dramatically. I’m not sure what his position is, frankly.

That’s it for the Republicans. I would also like to add that it appears to me that regular Republican Party people here in New Hampshire do not know what to do about Trump. Trump has been exploiting fears, fear of terrorism, and fear of economic decline, and he has done this in a way that does not play by the rules. People are scared by Trump and they are scared by the real issues that he is discussing. If you are a Republican and you don’t want to be led by Trump, you better hurry up and line up behind someone else!

DEMOCRATS
Out of respect for my fellow Democrats, I’m not going give number rankings to the Democratic candidates. I will just give you a few observations. One, Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, former U.S. First Lady, and former U.S. Senator from New York, is in New Hampshire in full force. Clinton is speaking for all of the people who support the causes of economic growth and development and equal rights for all. There is also an issue that Hillary’s campaign is important for the cause of providing women in America with equal access to opportunity and full respect and support of the potential of women to achieve positions of importance and power in America. I have seen on the campaign trail that women who usually don’t get involved in politics have been working for Clinton.
As for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont, Sanders has a strong group of supporters who believe that the Democrat Party under President Barack Obama has not tilted far enough to the Left. That is the crux of the Sanders campaign. Instead of challenging Sanders on his specific proposals, the Clinton campaign has focused more on trying to reassure the Sanders supporters that they are all working toward common goals in the end.
Former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland. We haven’t heard a lot from O’Malley, but you never know, he may do great in a debate and end up as someone’s Vice President.

So that’s my story the day before Iowa. I will leave you with one thought from an adviser of mine, Independent Voter, who asks all who are voting in the Republican Party to remain patriotic and not vote for someone who might destroy our country.