Veritable Plethora

Judging by the cultural climate and this country’s collective and supposed desire for “change,” I think it’s fitting that my first real post be about something going on in the political realm. Before you go, let me tell you that this post is about Barack Obama.

Hilary Clinton secured a win in the New Hampshire Democratic primary last night, edging out the winner of the Iowa caucuses, Barack Obama.

The two senators were neck and neck in the state until Clinton, buoyed by a resurgence of female voters and winning decisively in the biggest hamlets in New Hampshire, soared ahead and clinched victory.

This is a big deal for the Clinton campaign, which wouldn’t have been officially over if she had lost, but would have been setback immensely. After all, America loves winners because they, well, win. There is no other country in which winning is more ingrained than in the USA. Winning is a part of our cultural makeup, in fact, winning, specifically in the context of the Revolutionary war, is responsible for the birth of this winning nation.

Momentum is important in these political races, but it’s not everything. Because the only thing America loves more than a winner is a comeback. In other words, a loser who starts to win.

Barack Obama, the junior senator from I forget which state, left New Hampshire last night, his tail between his legs (perhaps, but not likely, and if so, only slightly), with another rousing, uplifting speech. The funny thing is that the speech is the same speech he would have given had he won the New Hampshire primary, just with a last minute addition of congratulations for Hilary Clinton. He dispensed with that quickly and moved on to his “yes we can’s.”

It’s clear that Barack Obama and crew thought they were going to win New Hampshire, and in fact that’s what the numbers, the pollsters, and the pundits indicated. Obama had the momentum of the Iowa caucus win going into NH and appeared to be the leader in the polls, so that thinking was not without warrant.

Perhaps the most telling indication that Obama and his campaign thought they had the proverbial thing in the bag is the song that played after Barack’s last speech in New Hampshire: Signed Sealed Delivered by Stevie Wonder.

Nothing’s signed yet and the victory is definitely not sealed.

What can we learn from this story? Never trust anyone who calls themselves a word like pundit.

The race continues. We at VP are not prepared to endorse any candidate yet, but we’ll let you know if we ever get around to it.