Inside Politics

Hillary’s problem

“Hillary Clinton leads in most late polls of Iowa, if only narrowly. Yet she will not place first. She may not even place second,” David Freddoso writes at National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com).

“The reason lies buried in the Democratic caucus process, and it stems from the fact that Hillary Clinton is hardly anyone’s second choice for the Democratic nomination,” Mr. Freddoso said.

“Clinton could conceivably win her party’s nomination without Iowa, but it would be difficult. A loss [tonight] would obviously destroy her aura of inevitability and weaken her in other states. A bad enough loss would deprive her of a rebound in New Hampshire, where she currently leads Illinois Sen. Barack Obama by the narrowest of margins.

“Michigan’s Democratic primary one week later will be meaningless — Clinton and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel are the only candidates on the ballot there. … Then comes Nevada, where Clinton’s large lead in the polls might not survive surprise defeats in the first two states, and South Carolina, where she and Obama are essentially tied.”

Blogs vs. Huck

Conservative bloggers aren’t exactly thrilled with Mike Huckabee’s Republican presidential candidacy — to the point of promising to vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton instead.

“Not that what one blogger thinks matters that much, but if Huckabee gets the nomination, I’m voting Democratic,” writes the conservative blogger known as Ace of Spaces (www.ace.mu.nu).

“It’s not just an idle threat; I just won’t vote for him and in fact won’t even vote third party or stay home. I’ll vote for the Democratic candidate, even Hillary. I won’t be a party to selling out everything the party is supposed to stand for to a liberal ideology. If we’re going to have eight years of liberal rule, I’d rather the Democratic Party be governing, so at least they can take the blame. And, quite frankly, Hillary is to the right of Huckabee on most issues.”

Dan Riehl (RiehlWorldView.com) seconded that emotion: “I’m surprised to see Ace say he’d vote for Hillary before Huckabee. The fact is, I have been thinking about this for days and reached the very same conclusion last night. … I am done voting for Republicans who don’t represent what I believe in, low taxes and small government.”

Warning letters

Several Iowa pastors who support Republican Mike Huckabee for president have received anonymous letters warning them that getting involved in politics could endanger their churches’ tax-exempt status, the Associated Press reports.

Two letters without return addresses were sent to the Rev. Brad Sherman of Solid Rock Christian Church in Coralville. The first arrived a couple weeks ago and warned that he could be prosecuted for his support of Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister.

“I just laughed,” Mr. Sherman said. “Somebody is trying to intimidate Christians from getting involved.”

The Rev. Kevin Hollinger of First Baptist Church in Algona has received three similar letters. The Rev. Rex Deckard of Calvary Apostolic Church in Des Moines has received nine letters, including three yesterday.

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