I still think they should rotate the first state, and ideally, the entire election cycle should be about 3 months, period; however, that said, it was fascinating to watch the process in Iowa last night. To me the caucus process seems to be most analogous to jury duty, where strangers are brought together for a great civic purpose. People are very earnest about this responsibility, which is usually not rewarded by the shits they finds themselves advocating for.

Which is why I think a Bernie Sanders resonates, especially with young people. (Exit polls showed him winning people who said that being “honest and trustworthy” was an important candidate quality by 83% to 10%). It’s not just his policies, it’s the authenticity, the lack of games played, which we saw last night when Sanders came out and told the truth: it was a tie. The political gamesmanship is minimal, which of course makes him more trusted by the civilians and less trusted by the politicos.

To be fair, Hillary did not in so many words claim victory, until today. But her campaign claimed victory before she spoke and that was the kind of cynical game playing that turns people off.

When the results are just tenths of a point apart, it’s a fucking tie. So just call it that and walk away.

The winner of the tie was of course Bernie Sanders, who was 50 points down and unheard of in Iowa just a few months ago. It was an extraordinary achievement. That said, it doesn’t take away from Hillary’s achievement as the first woman to win the Iowa caucus.

This can give Bernie more cred as he goes into New Hampshire, which he is favored to win, handily. For anybody to dismiss his tie in Iowa citing that it’s a more liberal state and a more white state and more forgiving of the “socialist” label is a bit misguided. None of those things were all that evident 2 months ago. Likewise, people will tut-tut his win in NH, should he win, because he’s from a neighboring state. But, again, if he’s so unelectable how is he doing this?  How did he win independents 69% to 22% last night if it’s all about those very liberal Iowa Democrats?

As I tweeted last night, I wish that Dems wouldn’t beat up on each other, and please, please please, don’t anybody say they’ll vote for Hillary but stay home if Bernie is the nominee and vice versa.  Holy shit does that not make sense.

Because bottom line is these guys are c-razy!  Rubio declared victory over Obama after coming in third to Trump and Cruz.  Trump is Trump, ‘nuf said.  And Cruz always sounds like he’s running for pastor in chief, so long as that title allows the holder to be an inveterate liar.  They have got to be defeated.  And given the demographics, only Dems can beat Dems.

As for Hillary vs. Bernie, we really won’t know if there’s a race at all until after NH. So let’s go!