Dixville Notch results are in already

More of a novelty than anything else but fun anyway.

Not much to say going into the New Hampshire primary but this. I think I've made it plain that I am not buying the Obama hype the same way a lot of people are.... but he's a lot closer to sewing up the nomination than I thought he'd get. This isn't exactly horrible news but forgive me if I don't Hope too Audaciously. At the moment there are two competing takes. One goes something like what Oyster is saying here

Anyhoo, I'm having trouble articulating and explaining how impressed I am with Obama. How he figured out a way to win in Iowa, how he's taking advantage of the primary schedule, how he turned it up when he needed to, and how he's changing the context of the campaign for Dems and the GOP in a way that creates the possibility of a "wave" election, and perhaps a working majority. This is exciting to me. So is the prospect of not having to worry about apologizing and holding my nose for Hillary for the next four to eight years.

Speaking as someone who honestly doesn't expect himself possessed of the fortitude necessary to "hold my nose for Hillary", I can sympathize with that take to some degree.

But while Oyster is marveling at what he Hopefully (to once again pun excruciatingly upon that word) believes to be sneaky elegant strategy from the Obama campaign, I still can't help but reach the same kind of conclusion that Tom Tomorrow lands on here

I’ll support a potted plant against whichever race-baiting science-denying warmonger the Republicans finally settle on, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t prefer a candidate who actually stands for things I care about, like real health care reform and a speedy end to the Iraq debacle. Given that Kucinich is — sorry — unlikely to carry the day, that leaves me with Edwards. Who is also probably not going to make it to the finish line. And then, hurray!, the Democrats will once again be offering up a mushy centrist who speaks vaguely of hope and change, of bipartisanship and reconciliation. Why is it always the Democrats who have to reconcile, after these spasms of right wing extremism? Why is partisanship always such a one-way street?

In other words, are we really going to asked to suspend our disbelief one more time in exchange for... hope? I don't know. But hey, maybe Hillary will finish third again. That's sure to make some of the pain go away.

Meanwhile watch the GOP results for some unexpected shows of strength from Huckabee and our friends the Ron Paul crazies. Of course McCain and Romney will run 1 and 2 but that's neither here nor there. I think Huckabee is dangerous if he breaks 15% in New Hampshire with South Carolina on the horizon... particularly if Mitt goes down again.

Oh and the SEC is the best damn conference in America. End of story.