The violence of the owning classes.

Kucinich has enormous, documented support of voters, yet big media refuses to cover his campaign in a serious manner and does its best to exclude him from debate forums, which it opens to candidates acceptable to its owners. This is just more of the violent activity which has come to typify the owning classes of this country. And this is activity which begets violence: if the people are prevented from using legal means of political action, they must resort to other means, or live as slaves.

Apeterson,

Great post. You are a voice that speaks from the trenches and we hear you loud and clear. Mr. Obama is the real deal.

I have no doubt about what you have just expressed here.

I have no doubt Obama will win next Tuesday.

I have no doubt the dialogue has been raised to a new level.

I have no doubt he represents a renewal of what is best in all of us.

I have no doubt we can all unite in belief of a better future. Today.

You don't get it Chris.

The game is thesame, but the players just changed the rules.

The clintonian era is in the past.

I agree with Hillary Clinton that Obama is inexperienced and there is a concern there. My obversations of Obama: I had started supporting Obama in 2004! in Texas, and did alot to talk him up here and at the University of Texas. I had photographed him 3 times in close quarters. I had made contributions to him the first 2 quarters of this year. I was not the only one who put in ALOT of work to help him. Has his campaign found ways to get us involved or showed appreciation for our efforts? NO! His support in Austin has eroded in large areas, and his last rally here was MUCH smaller than the large Feb. 07 rally. His only contact with those of us, like myself who wanted to support him - has been "give me money" email and "hey come out to my rally!" email.

I agree with Hillary Clinton that Obama is inexperienced and there is a concern there.

My obversations of Obama: I had started supporting Obama in 2004! in Texas, and did alot to talk him up here and at the University of Texas. I had photographed him 3 times in close quarters, and talked to him directly for a few minutes at one. I had made contributions to him the first 2 quarters of 2007. I was not the only one who put in ALOT of work to help him. Has his campaign found ways to get us involved or showed appreciation for our efforts? NO! His support in Austin has eroded in large areas, and his last rally here was MUCH smaller than the large Feb. 07 rally, that drew 20,000 people. His only contact with those of us, like myself who wanted to support him - has been "give me money" email and "hey come out to my rally!" email.

When I tried to give my concerns to the Obama people repeatedly!! by email and by phone, it was largely disregarded. When my concerns to a phone solicitor hit home at the time, and she gave me the national phone number, that national person's attitude was "hey there are too many people for us to follow up with" and we are focusing on the first 3 states. There was a strong arrogance with the person, as if Obama knows all and doesn't need any input on things from anyone. Is this giving a voice to those who are not lobbyists? Granted, the top person can't hear from everyone (despite Obama's rhetoric), but most campaigns understand that you need levels of leadership in a campaign to fully engage people nationally. This same mechanism is also required as President - since you need more than a podium and TV to truly engage people. While Obama gives lip service to this notion, his action and follow through are horribly lacking afterwards. Obama's is so restricted at the national level, they don't even engage voluntary groups like "Texans for Obama" - despite their efforts to help him.

There is a local young candidate here for city council who was like that, great initial candidate with charm and apparent charisma - but after winning he was largely dismissive of those that supported him. That city councilman has turned out to be one of the worst office holders in Austin. He tried to be friend to everyone, and he has come out to be friend to no one. Why? Inexperience! While Obama wants to have everyone have a voice equal to lobbyists and insiders, he is achieving this by excluding most everyone from input. While he has courted Iowa, NH, and SC closely, do not be mistaken - after you vote you won't hear or have any way to contact or be involved in his campaign, in my opinion - other than repeated "give me money" emails.

Having met all the top D candidates and also McCain on the R side, the two candidates that I think are the most personable when they are not wanting something from you are - Hillary and McCain. I was within the Secret Service bubble with Hillary for 3 hours and she was incredibly gracious and willing to listen to anyone. Obama was a rock star (in a negative way) in a similar position, and pretty much gives a smile, great giving speeches, but far LESS effective one-on-one than Hillary.

McCain also was willing to talk to people honestly, and I think also is someone that has incredible experience - and is not a gamble. I saw McCain get hit with a tough, emotional question from an audience member about health care, and he intently listened, and then gave his answer starting with, "you probably won't like my answer, but here it is ..." While I don't agree with McCain on all issues, he is genuine and capable. For those independents who do not like Hillary, I might suggest strongly giving a second look to McCain.

As an independent moderate, I hope my insight from Texas can help you all in NH better judge these candidates from a different perspective - the back side of their campaigns (the side you all don't see!).

Take care.

I am a first time writer to this blog, but as a former DC gov't relations professional and now a New Hampshire resident, I disagree with Chris' use of the word insurgent in referring to Barack Obama's win in Iowa. I currently hold a statewide position here in NH that represents the interests of children and families. For over a year now Barack Obama has had campaign staff on the ground dedicated specifically to the interests of women and children. There is not a single professional advocate in this state working on behalf of these contintuencies who is not familiar Sally Smith. Sally and her team have worked tirelessly for MONTHS to organize the state around Barack and his support for for women and children. His campaign is the only campaign on either side of the aile with staff dedicated to these issues. I think the country is fooled if they believe Hillary is more organized here than Barack. His grassroots machine should not be underestimated. Nearly everyone I interact with in a professional capacity is supporting Barack. Time and time again, it is the Obama campaign that has reached out to me (and my husband) both professionally and as a voting democrat to secure/ensure support. No other campaign has made this outreach, even despite my attempts both as a professional and a democrat to the staff of other campaign's whom I have personal relationships with. Perhaps outsiders are fooled into the believe that Hillary is the frontrunner here because she boasts the support of the old-guard democratic establishment. That may be true, but is it Barack Obama and his top notch team that have infiltrated every nook and cranny of this state (without a shred of arrogance I might add). When he wins on Tuesday, I will not be surprised in the least.

"The next president, unless he or she is locked in a closet for four years, will sooner or later fail at something," said the former president. "What you need to know is how your leader would respond to failure."

We now know how Hillary handles failure. There were many guesses as to how she would try to write off the Iowa loss without having to admit she lost and she seems to have used ALL of them in the past two days. Bill is right, this does tell us something about a leader and Hillary by her dismissal of Iowa and it's voters shows that she is not a leader.

It is okay, Chris. Wander around the periphery all you like. When you are ready to get back to the main action, we will be waiting for you.

I woke up this morning and had to read this before I had my coffee buzz:

"First, when Clinton issued a standard refrain from her Iowa stump speech: "Some people think you make change by hoping for it," the crowd jeered.

Later, when she asked, "Who will be the best president on day one?" the audience provided an unexpected answer, chanting, "O-bam-a, O-bam-a."

When it came time for Obama to speak, the crowd of 3,000 sprang to their feet waving signs.

So many people were on their feet that the announcer told them it was a fire hazard and made them sit down."

With news like this, who needs a java jolt!!!

The plain truth of the matter is Hillary is just not a good candidate. Its always about her, "I been at this for 35 years", which I do not even know what she is talking about. She has only been in the senate a couple of years and the only reason she is in the senate was because she cherry picked a blue state and used her status as 1st lady and the Former Presidents organization. Without Bill she is a total nobody.

In 1992, Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno saw his appeal and career evaporate the moment that Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" redefined rock music.

Bill and Hillary (and maybe Rudy, too) are Loverboy. Huck and Barack are Nirvana.

If you are not dynamic...you are static...and static is yesterday's news.

Hmm... your mentor, CC?

This gives me a little insight into the making of The Fix... and your natural leaning towards Clinton...

So much insight in Harris' article... but a fatal flaw that seems to miss the big point of Iowa - that the political landscape has fundamentally shifted in the USA and it isn't a matter of a "comeback"... the Clintons are now simply old news, and the time is not right for their message.

So Harris returns to this theme of not writing the Clinton's off... and it is a shame, because he is so close to hitting it on the head... the truth is, the Clinton past has not so much caught up with them, but it has defined them. And this election will be about the future - a picture they simply have no part in.

I would have thought both you and Harris would have had the penny drop on this after Iowa... but Beltway insiders often are the last to see the changes, even until well after they have swept the country.

Chris, I presume you meant that Yaacov Smirnoff is the only Russian comic in the U.S. That might be mistaken anyway, but if not, then you should know that living in the former Soviet Union gave rise to a veritable fountain of humor about the surreality of life in the communist state. Endless paradox, hypocrisy, and autocratic power makes for some very funny anecdotes. Ask any former Soviet, and they'll recite hours on end of hilarious anecdotes and one liners.

Quotes from Bloomberg Economic News

``Since 1949 the unemployment rate has never risen by this magnitude without the economy being in recession,'' John Ryding, chief U.S. economist at Bear Stearns Cos. in New York, said in a note to clients. ``We now put ourselves on recession watch.''

Factories have already slowed. ISM's manufacturing index for last month fell to 47.7, the lowest since April 2003, the purchasers group said this week.

Factory payrolls decreased by 31,000 after falling 13,000 a month earlier. Economists had forecast a drop of 15,000 in manufacturing employment. Builders reduced payrolls by 49,000 after cutting 37,000 jobs in November.

Government payrolls increased by 31,000 during the month, indicating private payrolls declined by 13,000.

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve will increase the size of two scheduled auctions of emergency loans by 50 percent to $30 billion as part of a global attempt by central bankers to restore faith in the money markets.

NYT

Of 1,000 owners surveyed nationwide, only 28 percent said they felt economic conditions for their businesses were improving, while 65 percent said conditions were getting worse.

After inching down in recent weeks, average gas prices across the nation rose by 7.3 cents last week to $3.053 per gallon, 71.9 cents higher than the same period last year, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday.

Business Week

"Staying at [the $100] level will mean inflation and economic hardship," says Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst for Oppenheimer Holdings (OPY). "The price has nothing to do with fundamentals, but it has a broad impact."

Here's a question for you. How many books on economics has your candidate read? How many has he WRITTEN? The best economist in the world can't convince someone to whom he can't explain the problem. It looks very like we are headed for a recession or a depression. Before you cast your all-important primary vote, shouldn't you find out who has the most education on economics? This is not one of those times when you basically get bragging rights. This time, it may make the difference between you keeping your job and house or living on the streets. Remember, if we ALL sink there will be no one to give you welfare. Even people who OWN their house could be dispossessed by incredibly high real estate taxes. I know everyone says he is a long shot, but PLEASE do yourself (and me) a favor and research Dr. Ron Paul. The house you save may be your own.