Politics '08--Holiday Edition

We are two weeks away from the caucuses in Iowa and the primaries in New Hampshire. How are the presidential candidates holding up? First, the Democrats:

Barack Obama--Leading in Iowa, even though we just watched an NBC News report (see MSNBC's website) implying that he's kind of wishy-washy when it comes to the issues and his past voting record. It says a lot about Obama's campaign when OPRAH WINFREY threatens to overwhelm it, making him look like Steadman's younger brother by comparison.

Hillary Clinton--Leads Democrats overall, but is no longer as invincible as she seemed a few weeks ago. She needs to be less of a Robo-candidate and more like a human being who just happens to be running for President. Oh, and keeping her husband in line might help, too.

John Edwards--He's in third place at the moment, and his numbers are improving. But is is already too late to buck the Obama-Clinton logjam?

Now, the Republicans:

Mike Huckabee--The new leader in Iowa, trading on his aw-shucks personality. But what will probably do him in is that he's a holy roller who disses President Bush, and you just can't do that in the GOP.

Rudy Giuliani--He was hospitalized in St. Louis for flu-like symptoms, then released. But the secretive way this matter was handled by his campaign raises questions about whether the country needs another stonewalling President. Giuliani's poll numbers have also taken a turn for the worse. Once the runaway leader, he is now tied with Mitt Romney at 20 percent, according to the NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll.

John McCain--He's picked up endorsements from the Des Moines Register and the Boston Globe, as well as one from alleged Democrat Joe Lieberman. The lull in the fighting in Iraq is helping McCain's cause at the moment.

Fred Thompson--Is he still in the race? Arthur Branch lasted longer than this.

One more thing: We saw an ad for Fox News Channel in the trade magazine Broadcasting and Cable comparing their debate coverage with CNN's. In it, they placed quotes from major publications citing CNN for the poor job they did, alongside glowing blurbs for the hard-hitting questions Fox News asked the candidates, Admittedly, CNN's coverage was sloppy, but at least they're bipartisan. You can't do a "fair and balanced" comparison when the Democratic candidates refused to debate on Fox News.