It's Weird How The Top-3 Candidates In Both Parties Sort-Of Mirror Each other

[THUNDER HANDS]

Huckabee mirrors Obama.
Romney mirrors Edwards.
Guiliani mirrors Clinton.

Let's get to Huckabee and Obama.

Both are the quasi outsiders in their races. Both are threatening a new dynamic in a presidential race. For Huckabee, it's a super overt, religious themed candidacy based off of the principle of big-government conservatism packaged as Christian goodwill. For Obama, it's a hope-filled candidacy offering a new face to the world of what this county is and what it's future will be. He's offering classic big-government liberalism packaged in a new-age, post-Baby Boomer philosophy and temperament.

Romney and Edwards.

These are the classics. The classic Rockefeller Republican, Romney, a granite-faced semi-moderate swimming away from his past support for abortion and gay rights. Armed with a personal fortune, good looks and mailable belief system. He holds the fort as the backup plan in case people get too queasy about a ultra-religious person like Huckabee getting the nomination, or a libertine turned wanna-be right-wing Guiliani. Edwards is the classic southern democrat with charm and boyish good looks, swimming away from his past support for the Iraq war and Patriot act. Armed with a personal fortune (though smaller than Romney's), he holds the fort as the backup plan in case people get to queasy about a inexperienced black man like Obama getting the nomination or a controversial woman with high negatives like Clinton.

Guiliani and Clinton.

These were the standards. The tough America's mayor and the most powerful first lady in history. Both running from the same state. Both known to be tough, hard, not-afraid-to-get-dirty campaigners. Both with baggage about past marital indiscretions, both either linked directly to them or their spouses. No woman had or has, a higher profile in public officer than her. No man, woman or anyone, had a higher profile on the highest profile day of the modern era - 911. Both came out of the gate frontrunners and have begun to fade.


Weird, isn't it?

[cali]

1. Interesting comparisons. I was prepared to

scoff at it, but you made a good case for each pairing.

[Bucky]

2. The eerie Gravel-Tancredo coincidence

Balls-to-wall fucking insane, both of 'em. It's like that Lincoln-Kennedy thing all over again.

[RufusTFirefly]

3. Interesting comparison. One quibble

I'd argue that the most powerful First Lady in history is still Eleanor Roosevelt.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. well, modern era?

maybe?

[MGKrebs]

5. Interesting. I will submit:

Richardson = McCain- both with great resumes, from western states, run poor campaigns, fairly centrist,

Kucinich = Ron Paul- both darlings of the extreme edges of their parties. Somewhat radical platforms.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. I'd say Richardson is Thompson and McCain is Biden

(Paul and Kucinich goes almost without saying.)

Richardson and Thompson have some gravitas and are more or less liked by everyone in their parties, but cannot generate any energy, partly due to their real life laid-back personalities.

Biden and McCain are the two straight-talking, manly party standard-bearers. Both are very old-hands in their parties, with long carers as important players in the Senate. Both are somewhat disliked by the party base despite being far-and-away the best representatives of their Party (in the big picture historical sense) in the field.

Both have the kind of good reputation for fairness and bi-partisanship that one develops being in the Senate for a long time. (Biden and McCain have both gained and lost chairmanships as partisan control of the Senate has shifted over time. Knowing you are always one election away from going from chairman to ranking member and back again encourages a cooperative attitude.)

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. good call

on the McCain - Biden thing.

I think Thompson is more like Dodd, though. Both are sort of laid back, old style senators who just seem to be on stage just to be on stage.

Richardson is hard to label. He's really not like anyone in the field - both a congressman and governor. Hispanic. Experienced. Yet seemingly politically tone deaf on how to run a campaign.