Playing Gotcha: Hillary's Achilles Heel

As our national football team miss-kick England's dreams in an operatic, mud-splattered failure, our minds turn to another booboo across the pond. Last week Hillary Clinton was polling at 46% in the race for the Dem's nomination. This week: 36%. What the he'? How'd THAT happen? Suffice to say, she has had a bit of a 'mare, these last few news cycles. Let's take a closer look.

Suzanne Goldberg of the Guardian, in town last week to flog her new book (but none the worse for it) got her Mystic Meg on and predicted something: the issue that's going to follow Hillary Clinton around like a bad smell ain't her husband, it ain't her continuing (dude! Stop it) votes in support of the Bush/Cheney foreign policy, it ain't her pants suits or her spine-chilling laugh. No, said Goldberg, rather than being stuck between Iraq and a hard place, she's going to be hung out to dry on the subject of Immigration.

Hillary, as an elected representative for the state of New York, came out in support of some pretty progressive immigration legislation, and generally bigged up the subject. She wadn't going to get elected in New York otherwise. UN fortunately, what gets you elected in new York is eh-he-hexTREMELY unlikely to endear you to the good people of, well, practically anywhere else in America.

And lo, she was thusly hoisted on her own petard:

And further lo, did Edwards and Obama bear down upon her, great shiny white teeth a'glinting, and tear her answer limb from limb and sniggering all the while.

Nobody knows yet where Hillary Clinton's going to come down on the subject of Immigration, or quite how her campaign are going to wrestle their narrative back into position. Indeed, the Clintonians have been leading the story for so long that they might have plum forgotten how to do anything else. Of the 8 points they dropped last week, Obama took 2, Edwards took 4, and 3, like, don't even know anymore man. As the anonymous lobbyist says, perhaps the people Americans want to see politicking aren't necessarily the people they want to see in charge of the country.

Mind you, at the Democrat's death-match-cage-fight in Las Vegas last week, Hillary stood triumphant and bloodied at the end:

Oooo, SNAP.

G.O.P. Maybe Wins G.O.P. Debate!

Last night the Republican party barely snatched victory from defeat in their televised New Hampshire debate, despite the fact that they were only debating each other. Eeesh, it doesn't look good out there. In all the liveblogging The Monocle has perused this morning (so you don't have to! Cos you totally would otherwise!) everyone seems to have been drinking heavily. Here's a list. Everyone likes a list.

1)According to a buncha drunks sitting in the dim lights of their family basements, John McCain acquitted himself very nicely, considering that his campaign recently underwent financial armageddon and a slew of rats running up the gangplank. McCain can't be written off just yet - amongst the furious sniping of Don Giuliani and the Mormon he's starting to look like a real good guy.
2)Giuliani always looks surprisingly clever, though that may indicate quite how far his press team have to travel before January. Also, if they can, they should maybe try and tone down the ugly. Perhaps some different glasses, Jeez, perhaps even something to make him taller. Less...like a depressed rabbit. Just thinking out loud.

3)The second speaker is Mike Huckabee. You can ignore him.
4)RON PAUL 4 PRSIDENT SPEACKIN TRUTH 2 POWER!
5)Oh god. We can't really go on with this...so yeah. It's just...the idea of so many months till January...so...many...debates...This is just for New Hampshire. There are like a HUNDRED more states after this one. Pass the gin.

Youtube Debating: Mainly about, uh...

Ohmahgagh! The world's first...wait, the world's second...well, whatever. The Democratic Youtube debate starts tonight at midnight. Be there or have better things to do. The beauty of the youtube debate is, in essence, the beauty of the 2008 campaigns. If it all goes without a hitch, no-one will pay the slightest bit of attention to anything anybody says. If, however, a candidate makes a mistake - and that can be a tiny, tiny fuck-up, a little hair tossing (yes, you, Edwards), a little hand-waving (Richardson, you know who we're talking about), or a mind-blowing brain-freeze - it is presented to the world on a silver platter. But wait! Youtube watchers finally get to ask the questions! How could THAT be a bad idea? Anderson Cooper tells us that there are 'many amazing questions'. You mean like this one, right Anderson?

Erm, who shot this video? A poltergeist? Is this man a poltergeist himself? And then, at last, a young man speaks for the people:

What will continue to bemuse y'all, of course, is how in the Sam Hell Barack Obama KEEPS looking clueless in recorded debates without anybody pointing it out. Because he's a man of Destiny, ok? A man of Destiny.