Sunday, January 6, 2008

Key Presidential & Congressional Races

Starting tomorrow morning (Monday) at 8 a.m. there will be a new column every day between now and February 6, 2008, the day after "Super Tuesday." I've predicted that Senator Barack Obama will win the New Hampshire primary in a close race with Senator Hillary Clinton. I've also predicted that Senator John McCain will win the New Hampshire -- and that he will finish far ahead of the second place finisher, former Gov. Mitt Romney.

I believe the eventual presidential nominees will be Barack Obama and John McCain. However, I wouldn't bet the house on my own projections. Mike Huckabee will retain his strong support among evangelicals and home-schoolers, who propelled him to victory in Iowa. Mitt Romney has spent tens of millions of his own money and, as the saying goes, "you ain't seen nothing yet."

I also believe the best candidate the Democrats have is Hillary Rodham Clinton, which isn't saying much, because the top-tier Democrats all advocate policies that will be harmful to the nation. Mrs. Clinton may still win the nomination, but if she finishes second in New Hampshire and then goes on to lose in South Carolina, her campaign is in deep trouble. Obama would have all the momentum, and he would be almost unstoppable.

I think that's likely to happen, but at this point, there are few absolute certainties.

Last night, I attended a remarkable meeting that featured former congresswoman Melissa Hart, who is seeking to regain her seat in Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District. Her race against Jason Altmire is reflective of many congressional battles taking place around the country. I'll be writing more in the weeks ahead about the Hart-Altmire struggle.

If you'd like to learn more about Melissa Hart, you can check her archived appearance on Doug Gibbs's Blog Talk Radio on January 3, 2008.

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