On the day sandwiched between the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday, bloggers try to dissect the outcome of the former and try to predict what will happen with the latter.
’Til Tuesday: Ahead of Super Tuesday, the blogosphere tries its hand at augury and evaluates Hillary’s teary moment in New Haven. CNN finds Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tied and John McCain leading the Republican pack in a poll released Monday.
At TalkLeft, Big Tent Democrat is enthusiastic: “What I really like about this Super Tuesday in the Democratic race is that the time for spinning and the time for excuses is over. We have two solid, talented, well funded and well known candidates. The voters know them. They have had time to consider their choices. … If your opponent wins, he won. If you win, you won. I do not want to even hear about moral victories now. Winning means winning.” But at Buck Naked Politics, Floridian and moderate Democrat Damozel explains why she has not succumbed to Obama fever. “I don’t know why I don’t feel the Obama spell—or rather, why, though I feel it, I keep coming out of it. He is new and fresh and comparatively untarnished. … Possibly my lack of enthusiasm is precisely because Obama has got such a dazzling window display. To paraphrase Sinclair Lewis, there’s still some doubt in my mind whether there is anything on the shelves inside.”
At the Moderate Voice, Joe Gandelman wonders if Clinton will get a boost from early voting in California: “The wild card: many California ballots were mailed in early. Clinton had been ahead in California until this weekend. Will those ballots reflect that change or will they favor Clinton?” AMERICAblog has a handy graph tracking Gallup’s daily poll since Jan. 13.
The independent at the Strata-Sphere calls the Republican race for McCain. “McCain has kept growing his national lead over Romney - now at 19%. That tells me a large state like CA, while apparently close, will probably go to McCain with most others on Tuesday. That means the entire GOP race could be basically over this week - barring some major unforeseen event.” At the Chicago Tribune’s Swamp, Jill Zuckman follows McCain to Massachusetts. “In a home invasion of sorts, McCain stepped onto Romney’s turf Sunday night, visiting Paul Revere’s old stomping ground - the Green Dragon tavern - to shake hands with voters. … Asked again about his visit, McCain said Romney is ‘certainly welcome to come to Arizona if he like. The weather is very nice.’ “
Has Hillary being tearing up again? That’s what this CNN video shows, at a campaign event at the Yale Child Study Center. At Time’s Swampland, Joe Klein believes the show of emotion was real: “She worked at the Yale Child Study Center when she was in law school. This is one of the core commitments of her life. And, from personal experience, I know the amazing work that is done at Yale by the most remarkable team of doctors and psychologists and learning experts I’ve ever encountered. I vote genuine … and second that emotion. And let’s stop trying to evaluate that which is unevaluatable.”
At Perrspectives, Democrat Jon Perr dissects the moment: “Occam’s Razor, the notion that the simplest explanation is the usually the best one, would suggest that Hillary Clinton actually was emotional about her return the Yale Child Study Center where she worked during law school in the 1970’s. But coming less than a month after what some saw as Hillary’s decisive tears in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary, pundits will look for meaning. Was Senator Clinton pandering to women voters? Is her propensity to choke up directly proportional to the strength of Barack Obama’s candidacy? Of course, she could have just been tired and genuinely moved. But when politics is theater, media conventional wisdom doesn’t make much room for basic humanity.”
At Townhall, conservative Mary Katharine Ham has a less charitable view. “She might as well have been wearing a neon sign over her head saying ‘Women voters, look here for empathy and new, improved, life-like feelings!’ I say the tears are just like a talking point; she keeps repeating them for newcomers to the race.” Wonkette’s Jim Newell is also cynical: “With Super Tuesday coming tomorrow, and polls showing Hillary Clinton in a dead heat with Barack Obama in states like, let’s see… Connecticut… it seemed like a good opportunity to CRY again.”
Read more predictions on the eve of Super Tuesday.
Super upset: The New York Giants beat the Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl on Sunday, scoring a touchdown with 35 seconds left to stun undefeated New England.
At Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Blog, Hoboken, N.J., resident Dave Lozo is breathless: “There is no word in the English language that can describe the feeling that comes with winning a Super Bowl against a team that was 18-0 and considered the best team to ever grace a football field. There’s just no way to describe it.” At Giants 101, Nate Rosenblatt replays the best moments of the game in his head: “The Pass will be a play that will forever live in Giants lore. On third and 5, Eli Manning somehow escapes the rush and heaves a 35 yard pass downfield to David Tyree, who makes the catch of his life. A beautiful fingertip catch. I will be watching that play for a long, long time.”
At the Boston Herald’s Point After, Patriots beat writer John Tomase writes: “You have to hand it to the Giants. They made the plays down the stretch after the Patriots had seemingly guaranteed victory with another great Tom Brady drive. The Pats finish one of the greatest seasons in NFL history at 18-1, with victory-guaranteeing Plaxico Burress coming through with the winning touchdown. It was an incredible finish and the Patriots have no reason to hang their heads. The Giants simply won it at the end.”
Read more about the Giants’ victory.
