What New Hampshire Means

To all candidates different things but for Hillary and Mitt in particular it will dictate the course of their continued campaigns.

Starting with Hillary, it's only going to get tougher and her little tears welling up moment yesterday showed just how difficult her task is. The first response was that it's all part of the Hillary spin machine and was a planted moment. That ain't good for the candidate who had it all wrapped up not so long ago--think about it, everything Hillary does is weighed against the fact that she's part of the Clinton machine and everything is potentially contrived. That limits her in many respects. Take yesterday for instance; as soon as she cried, the media dutifully reported it (it's hard to break that sucking up to Hillary habit after 16-years) and the response from the blogosphere is all you needed to see. She was instantly pummeled by Republicans and the leftosphere as well.

This isn't Hillary's epitaph but it is an appeal to keep an eye on how her actions and words are reported and try to detect change from the near-daily love fest the media has been perpetrating for her.

For Mitt it means everything, he isn't winning SC and a Huck win would probably hobble his campaign. He'll win Nevada probably but what of New York, California and Florida? Romney is an attractive candidate but the "Mormon issue" is staying with him regardless of what he says or does. Americans find Mormonism a mystery and finding the real answers is not as easy as one would suspect. Even when question about treatment of blacks or other issues related to the religion arise, they aren't explained satisfactorily. I guess the same could be said of Islam, but the supporters of Islam have a bit more of a tougher time trying to explain the explicit words about subjugating Dhimmi's and enslaving infidels spelled out in the Koran.

Romney tried in his religion speech and spoke magnificently but it wasn't enough. Unfortunately for Romney, the country may be ready for a black president but it isn't ready for a Mormon one.
For other candidates, it could be a breakthrough day for McCain, it could be a down day for Huck and it could be the day that Obama solidifies his lead nationally. Here's hoping that Fred makes some kind of move.

Update: Not that it means a damn thing but the first votes were cast up near the Canadian border and it was McCain (with four whole votes) and Obama (with seven) who are leading.