We are looking at probably the most exciting primary season that I have ever known, and that goes back to my true political awakening when Jimmy Carter won in 1976. (Ok, maybe the first time was when Nixon resigned, but I cried over that, so obviously I was delusional. I was also 9 years old, so what did I know?)
Anyway, the difference between the two primary races is interesting, and we have George Bush to thank for it in both cases.
On the Democratic side, I see a lot of unity. The messages from each candidate is unique, but they all seem to hit the same themes. It's more a matter of degrees, of emphasis. They appear to have found a formula that they are betting will strike a chord with the populace during the general election. To me, the battle is over who will be best at pitching the Democrats' message in November.
On the Republican side, the effort seems more scattered. Look at the primaries and who has won. First it was a candidate with strong evangelical backing (Huckabee), then a conservative with a moral conscience who supports the war (McCain), then it was a strong-economy candidate (Romney). If Guiliani can pull off a win in Florida, we'll have another flavor of Republican in the mix.
The bottom line is that both parties know that the Bush example won't fly with the public anymore. That's good news for Dems, and that means that the GOP is trying to reinvent itself but doesn't know how.
We'll have a good idea about what is happening on Feb. 5, but I wouldn't be surprised if for the Republicans their nomination would go down to the convention, and that would really be a first for me.
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