Howie column ping
Romney ego trips and falls flat in Iowa
By Howie Carr | Friday, January 4, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
For Mitt Romney, it may be one and done. Last night he looked like an overrated second seed out of the Big Ten who gets upset in the first round by Campbell College.
As for Hillary, as my listener Ron from Norwood put it, shell be the one taking hostages at her headquarters in New Hampshire today.
Mitt not only got his teeth knocked out by Mike Huckabee, but the Huckster and his new plug, ugly Ed Rollins, mussed up his hair pretty good, too. Unless something happens this weekend - and debates have not been Mitts strong suit this year - he could be going down in the record books as the John Connolly, the Phil Gramm, the Steve Forbes of the 2008 race.
The guy who blew millions on an ego trip off a political cliff.
See you in New Hampshire, Mitt said last night. Yeah, at Lake Winnipesaukee, on Fourth of July weekend. Is it safe to say, Mitt, that Huckabee brainwashed the GOP voters of Iowa?
Maybe Mitt should have run for re-election as governor after all.
Instead, he had a press availability scheduled in New Hampshire this morning at 2 a.m. That must have been some wakeup call, not to mention a wake. Mitt can spin it all he likes that the Huckster had a natural base in Iowa, but thats what money is supposed to overcome. Thats why they call it the mothers milk of politics.
It must grate on Mitt that already the McCainiac rumpswabs of the press corps are promoting the Republican fight as McCain-Huckabee. But the fact is, Mitts been fading in New Hampshire faster than he did in Iowa. Like sharks, the voters smell blood in the water.
If there is the slightest glimmer of hope for Willard, its that Hillarys wounded, too, and her flailing makes the Democratic ballot that much more attractive to the independents in New Hampshire in four days. For months now, the Barack Obama rallies have had the same feel as Deval Patricks last year - thousands of overweight Baby Boomer moonbats on prescription medication, the men in gray ponytails, the women knitting in their tent dresses, all of them in full swoon. How did Joe Biden describe Obama as a clean black man? The Boomers vote Obama, they feel good about themselves, their lives havent been a total selfish waste.
McCains Strait Jacket Express cant match that karma, or star power. The Republican primary will have to be won among Republicans. And you can bet that Mitt is ready to hit the grumpy old man with everything but, as that folksy Huckster put it, the kitchen sink. Here is the Romney campaigns weekend theme:
McCain = Ted Kennedy.
Money will be no object. When youre already down for $20 million, whats another five? Whichever Republican finally gets Huckabee one-on-one wins. Its the longest of long shots now for Mitt, but whats he got to lose except Taggs inheritance?
But in the end, Mitts ad barrage wont work. Because Mitt has the same problem Hillary does. They just dont like him, or her. They dont connect. Hillary is just so 20th century. Her husband was the ultimate Teflon politician, nothing stuck to him. Shes Velcro, unable to put across a single lie with the panache of her husband.
Shes got more money than God, and how is her campaign spending it? Theyre buying ads on my radio show, and Rush Limbaughs. Michael Savage must have been sold out.
If she goes down in flames, how long do you suppose she and Bill will remain married? About as long as Rudy and Judy most likely. And how about Giuliani - you had to know that something was wrong in that campaign when they put Paul Cellucci and Joe Malone on the same bus in New Hampshire and thought the boys could bury the hatchet once and for all.
As for Fred Thompson, he didnt do that poorly in Iowa, but whats up with the 1:30 arrival this afternoon in New Hampshire? Hes ceding two news cycles in New Hampshire to his new worst enemy, John McCain, whose minions tried to sandbag him yesterday with the rumor that he was dropping out of the fight. We all thought Fred was a politician, it turns out he only played one on TV. And you know very well that Arthur, his character on Law and Order, would have been up at dawn this morning, thanking voters at a subway stop somewhere.
This campaign is off to a great start. This morning it looks like it comes down to Obama vs. McCain in the finals, but tomorrow, who knows?
Anyone for a brokered convention, or two?
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1064532
Of course Howie had to get in a dig on Fred Thompson. I guess, then, it’s a waste of time for Fred to be on Howie’s show today...