Political Nanny strongly suspects one of her GOP darlings will get severely burned in Florida on Tuesday. Which is why she is insisting Rudy Giuliani slather himself with a super-high SPF sunscreen before the state’s voters head out to cast their ballots. Rudy has spent all his time and most of his money on selling himself to Florida’s Republicans. But this fast cycle of primaries and caucuses makes those who have won nothing appear as if they’ll never win anything. (John Edwards, you might need to reapply the Coppertone, too.)
While we don’t like predictions, all the polls show Giuliani doing third place at best. It’ll be a shame if he doesn’t stay in long enough for his home state to weigh in on his candidacy, or other big states like California, who might be more sympathetic to his breaks with the party line (see: GOP stance on abortion).
Political Nanny’s Democratic candidates will be less vulnerable to blistering in Florida, since the state party was stripped of its delegates after scheduling primaries before February 5th. Ahhh, but the state may still be in play. Plenty of Democratic voters still cast ballots – Hillary Clinton is their supposed favorite. And Clinton is now talking about having the national party reinstate the delegates. Self-interested? Sure. But we expect nothing less!
Speaking of expectations and blazing hot election moments … wow! Did you hear Barack Obama’s victory speech in South Carolina? Political Nanny showed restraint -- just a few goose bumps during the English translation of the old migrant workers Spanish rallying cry: Si, se puede!/Yes, we can! And a quick melt when he thanked his wife and kids. But then, Obama went and brought up second shifts at the Duncan Donuts (minute 11:55). Duncan Donuts! No teacher should have to shovel cream-filled Munchkins in a decorative box to make ends meet! He's right! And he said it. He said a lot. Truthfully, Political Nanny wasn’t that moved by Obama’s Iowa victory speech. But seriously, you’d have to be a robot (or the coldest of Republicans) to not feel like he said something big, something really big, something Kennedy big Saturday night. Political Nanny isn't just talking about donuts. Obama mentioned other long forgotten notions, like Republicans who might "cross over." (Um, I thought crossing over was for Democrats, Joe Lieberman.) He mentioned black voters supporting a white candidate (ooooh, Bill ... Bill, Bill, Bill.) And ... and! He talked about Latinos and Asians and Native Americans who have got to be feeling left out of this historical year, which has focused mainly on black/white, woman/man, rich/poor, pro/con differences -- not the actual complex shades-of-gray country we live in as individuals.
Anyway, doesn't this election feel so darn big?
Of course, just like Florida, there are severe elements in the forecast for the Super Tuesday states. The rest of us election watchers would be wise to use caution, seek shelter in facts and votes, ignore probablies and percentages, and slather up with whatever's left of Rudy’s Florida sunscreen. Because the only thing any of us do know, is that this year? You just never know.
