The Hawkeye Howdown

You can come up with any plausible scenario: Romney seems to be leading the pack on the Republican side, at least the last time I refreshed my web browser. But Huckabee went Hollywood last night with an appearance on Leno, and McCain has mustered a sudden burst of support - to the point where a 3rd-place showing in Iowa would be a victory. Any combination of Hillary, Obama and Edwards in the top three spots seem squarely within the realm of possibility for the Democrats, although with vastly different implications for each conceivable order.

Some observations:

• Romney might be emerging as split-the-baby consensus candidate. Mormonism is somewhat strange, but leave it to the Lefties to hammer away on that issue and thereby appear intolerant.
  
  
• Fred should hang it up. A likable old hound dog, but zero competitive chops.
  
  
• It's hard not to want Obama to trounce Hillary. She's ultimately a dreary candidate, and despite what legions of pure Democrats would like to believe, Bill won't be president again - and what does that say about women that people would think along such lines?
  
  
• The nightmare scenario: Hillary against Huckabee. The next ten months would become the most brutal chapter of the American culture war imaginable - a bone-shattering, blood and viscera duel between the Sean Hannity and Michael Moore wings of the electorate. And whatever the outcome, it would continue long after the inauguration.
  
  
• It's extremely unlikely Edwards will take first place, but he's the Republican dream candidate. His message would seem very sour in the general election.
  
  
• Guiliani is playing a very, very risky strategy by waiting out these early contests. He may be buried in the mind of the general voting population in the next two weeks, since all of the talk will be about Romney, Huck and (possibly) McCain.

Let's play ball. Also, don't miss Novak's column, titled (ahem) Hillary's Premature Triangulation. He may be a flinty old gorgon, but old man Bob has lost none of the gimlet-eyed political analysis that has made him notorious.